Department for Business and Trade

Deep Sea Mining

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what recent discussions her Department has had with representatives of the International Seabed Authority on development of the Mining Code.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: The UK is fully engaged in the ongoing negotiations at the International Seabed Authority (ISA) Council and Assembly, to agree deep sea mining exploitation regulations. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) leads the UK delegation to the ISA. The UK’s policy is not to sponsor or support the issuing of any exploitation licences for deep sea mining projects unless and until there is sufficient scientific evidence about the potential impact on deep sea ecosystems, and strong enforceable environmental Regulations, Standards and Guidelines have been developed by the ISA and are in place. The UK’s approach is both precautionary and conditional.

Tickets: Sales

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 22 March 2023 to Question 166159 on Tickets: Sales, when she plans to publish a response to the report by the Competition and Markets Authority entitled Secondary ticketing websites published in August 2021.

Kevin Hollinrake: The government published its response to the Competition and Markets Authority’s secondary ticketing report on 10 May 2023. A copy of the response can be found on the gov.uk website (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cma-recommendations-on-secondary-ticketing-government-response).

Companies: Registration

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 17 July 2023 to Question 193194 on Companies: Registration, what information she holds on the address which has 77,634 limited companies registered to it.

Kevin Hollinrake: Companies House is a registry of company information. It does not hold information about the nature of the addresses to which companies are registered.

Trade: Commonwealth

Jane Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether a (a) Minister and (b) delegation from her Department will attend the Commonwealth Trade and Investment Forum in September 2023.

Nigel Huddleston: While a formal invitation to the Commonwealth Enterprise and Investment Council (CWEIC) Summit in Bangladesh has yet to be received, officials from the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) plan to attend while ministerial attendance has yet to be decided. DBT and FCDO and continue to work closely with CWEIC to further strengthen intra-Commonwealth trade and investment – particularly following the Commonwealth Trade Ministers Meeting in June, where members agreed ambitious objectives to boost support for trade digitalisation and inward investment ahead of CHOGM in 2024 in Samoa.

Construction: Carbon Emissions

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps she is taking to promote carbon neutrality in the construction industry.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: We are working with the construction sector, to support a range of initiatives to reduce its emission contributions to help meet our net zero target. This includes the Construction Leadership Council's Construct Zero initiative, which covers the design of buildings, construction processes, decarbonising plant and machinery it uses, and training in relevant skills.The Government has also worked with the industry to produce the Low Carbon Concrete Routemap, a Zero Diesel Routemap for construction sites and to revise the PAS 2080 standard for carbon management in buildings and infrastructure projects.

Companies: Registration

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 17 July 2023 to Question 193194 on Companies: Registration, what the (a) second, (b) third, (c) fourth and (d) fifth largest number of companies registered to a single address in the UK is.

Kevin Hollinrake: The second, third, fourth and fifth largest number of limited companies registered to a single address in the UK are:RankingNumber of Companies Registered243,184320,269417,232516,601Provisions in the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill 2002 currently before Parliament will give the Registrar of Companies new powers to verify the identity of those incorporating all companies and to require evidence that the address at which they propose to register the company is an appropriate one.

Department for Business and Trade: Ministers

Wendy Chamberlain: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, on how many occasions a request for a meeting by an hon. Member was not agreed to by (a) a Minister and (b) their office on behalf of a Minister in the last 12 months.

Nigel Huddleston: This information is not centrally collated and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. Ministers will regularly seek to engage with hon. Members, whilst balancing wider Ministerial and Parliamentary responsibilities.

Attorney General

Crown Prosecution Service: Equality

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Attorney General, how much the Crown Prosecution Service spent on (a) training and (b) staff related to equality, diversity and inclusivity in (i) 2021 and (ii) 2022.

Michael Tomlinson: (a) Training: the total spending on Equality, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) training for the financial year 2021/22 was £85,467.00. This includes Learning & Development, HQ Diversity & Inclusion, Staff Networks, and CPS areas. The total spending on Equality, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) training for the financial year 2022/23) was £77,975.77. This includes Learning & Development, HQ Diversity & Inclusion, Staff Networks, and CPS areas. (b) Staff: the total spending for salary costs for staff related to Equality, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) for the financial year 2021/22 was £241,927. This equates to 6 FTE staff in HQ D&I team. The total spending for salary costs for staff related to Equality, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) for the financial year 2022/23 was £191,908. This equates to 5 FTE staff in HQ D&I team.

Crown Prosecution Service: Staff

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Attorney General, how many people were employed by the Crown Prosecution Service as (a) an associate prosecutor and (b) a crown prosecutor as of 30 June 2023.

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Attorney General, how many people were employed by the Crown Prosecution Service as prosecutors on 30 June; and how many of those had (a) been in post for at least twelve months and (b) prosecuted at least one case before the (i) magistrates court and (ii) crown court between 1 July 2022 and 30 June 2023.

Michael Tomlinson: As at 30 June 2023, there were (a) 113 Asscociate Prosecutors and (b) 235 Crown Prosecutors employed by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). In total, there were 3304 people employed by the CPS as proseuctors on 30 June 2023, with 3040 in post for at least 12 months. The CPS manages its workforce data systems separately from its prosecution casework and the response would require disproportionate and significant manual input. *Data extracted is accurate at point of enquiry on 18 July 2023. Consequent changes to data input may mean that this data will change at some point in the future.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Commonwealth: Trade

Jane Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether a (a) Minister and (b) delegation from his Department will attend the Commonwealth Trade and Investment Forum in September 2023.

David Rutley: We are still awaiting a formal invitation for Ministerial attendance. However, on current plans officials from the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) will attend the Commonwealth Enterprise and Investment Council (CWEIC) Summit in Bangladesh.The FCDO and DBT continue to work closely with CWEIC to further strengthen intra-Commonwealth trade and investment - particularly following the Commonwealth Trade Ministers Meeting in June, where members agreed ambitious objectives to boost support for trade digitalisation and inward investment ahead of CHOGM (Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting) in 2024 in Samoa.

Hong Kong: Arrest Warrants

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent representations he has made to his Chinese counterpart on the issuing of arrest warrants for Hong Kong nationals living overseas.

David Rutley: On 13 July, at the Foreign Secretary's instruction, his senior official conducted a formal démarche of the Chinese Ambassador. The senior official set out our strong objections to actions in Hong Kong in recent weeks, including the issuing of arrest warrants and bounties for eight individuals living overseas, three of whom live in the UK, as well as the detention and questioning of the family members of some of those individuals in Hong Kong. We also expressed our ongoing opposition to the imposition of the National Security Law by Beijing on Hong Kong, which is a breach of the Sino-British Joint Declaration.

Bangladesh: Rohingya

Tom Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department have taken to support Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh since January 2023.

David Rutley: The UK has been a leading donor to the Rohingya response in Bangladesh, providing a total of £362 million of support since 2017. Minister Trevelyan visited Bangladesh in March this year and announced £5.26 million to support the World Food Programme and UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) to feed 449,000 people and provide pressure cookers to reduce the consumption of cooking gas. In May, the UK announced £2.3 million to support healthcare, shelter rebuilding and site management for refugees and host communities in the aftermath of Cyclone Mocha. Most recently in July, the UK announced a further £10 million of assistance for refugees and host communities for food provision, water, sanitation and hygiene.

Israeli Settlements

Mrs Flick Drummond: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the implementation of UN Human Rights Council Resolution 31/36 entitled Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan; and if he plans to take steps to support initiatives at the 53rd session of the UN Human Rights Council on the implementation of the mandate in that resolution.

David Rutley: The UK abstained on UN Human Rights Council resolution 31/36 in 2016 as part of a common EU position. However, we have long opposed the creation of a public database of companies which we consider unhelpful, and which only risks further hardening positions on all sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This is why we voted against the resolution at HRC53 requesting the implementation and funding for resolution 31/36. The UK's longstanding position on the Middle East peace process is clear: we support a negotiated settlement leading to a safe and secure Israel living alongside a viable and sovereign Palestinian state based on 1967 lines.

Department for Education

Students: Cost of Living

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment has she made of the affordability of (a) housing and (b) other cost of living costs for university students.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help ensure an adequate supply of affordable accommodation for students in further and higher education.

Robert Halfon: The government is aware of the increasing cost of living pressures on students. The department has put in place a significant amount of support to support students in England to tackle this.The department has continued to increase living costs support each year for English-domiciled students with a 2.3% increase to maximum loans and grants for living and other costs for the 2022/23 academic year, and a 2.8% increase for the 2023/24 academic year.The department has also earmarked £276 million of student premium funding this year to support disadvantaged students who need additional help.In addition, the department has frozen maximum tuition fees for the 2022/23 academic year, as well as for the 2023/24 and 2024/25 academic years. By the 2024/25 academic year, maximum fees will have been frozen for seven years. The department believes that a continued fee freeze achieves the best balance between ensuring the system remains sustainable, while offering good value for taxpayers, not all of whom have benefitted from a university education.As well as keeping tuition fees flat, the department has introduced and boosted degree apprenticeships, where, if people want to earn and learn, they can get their degrees paid for by their apprenticeship.The government plays no direct role in the provision of student residential accommodation, whether it is managed by universities or private companies. The department encourages universities and private landlords to review their accommodation policies to ensure they are fair, clear, and have the interests of students at heart. This includes making accommodation available at a range of affordable price points where possible. The student funding system also targets the most support for living costs to those who need it most, from the lowest income families.

Buildings: Asbestos

Matt Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she plans to take reduce the number of (a) schools, (b) hospitals and (c) other buildings containing asbestos.

Nick Gibb: It is the responsibility of those who run schools and who work with their schools day to day to manage the safety and maintenance of their buildings. This includes academy trusts, Local Authorities and voluntary aided school bodies. The Department provides support on a case by case basis if it is alerted to a serious safety issue which responsible bodies cannot manage independently.The Department takes the issue of asbestos in schools seriously, and is committed to supporting schools, Local Authorities, and academy trusts to fulfil their duty to manage asbestos safely. Well maintained, safe school buildings are a priority for the Government. That is why the Department has allocated over £15 billion for improving school buildings since 2015, including £1.8 billion committed for the 2023/24 financial year. On top of this we are also transforming 500 schools over the next decade through our School Rebuilding Programme. To date the Department has announced 400 schools, with 100 more to come. The Department prioritises schools based on their condition need.The Department provides detailed guidance for responsible bodies in line with expert advice from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). The HSE are clear that asbestos-containing materials that are in good condition, well protected either by their position or physical protection, should not usually be worked on, as it is usually safer to manage them in place.Hospitals are the responsibility of the Department of Health and Social Care. They state that while much of the NHS estate dates from a time when asbestos was widely used, asbestos is considered safe if it is undisturbed. When building or other work is carried out which would disturb any asbestos, experts are brought in to safely dispose of it. NHS England continues to work with trusts to ensure their estates are a safe environment for patients and staff.NHS organisations manage their asbestos locally in line with legislation and regulation. Where appropriate, it will be removed. Where work is undertaken on NHS facilities, including new build and refurbishment, the removal and disposal of asbestos will be considered.NHS trusts have duties under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012. They are committed to the effective management of asbestos containing materials. Responsibilities to contractors and others involved in building and maintenance projects are established through the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 and its duties as the ‘Duty Holder’ of Trust owned buildings as defined by Regulation 4 of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012.Unlike other estates areas of risk, such as, medical gases, there is no NHS specific risk from asbestos. Specific guidance to the NHS is not provided as that from other sources, e.g., HSE, applies without amendment. Where judged safe, asbestos does not need to be removed. Where removal is required, this is a specialist responsibility normally carried out by specialist consultants. The NHS Premises Assurance Model includes a section on managing asbestos in the ‘hard facilities management safety’ section.All public bodies, including Local Authorities, are responsible for how they manage asbestos in their buildings and are expected to comply with relevant legal requirements. The HSE publishes a range of guidance about working with asbestos and how to comply with relevant legislation. This requires duty holders to assess whether asbestos is present, what condition it is in, and whether it gives rise to a risk of exposure, which is set out under the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012. Further guidance is available at: https://www.hse.gov.uk/asbestos/index.htm.Plans to manage the risk associated with asbestos must include removal of the asbestos if it cannot be safely managed where it is located. Removal of asbestos from buildings is already happening across Great Britain through planned refurbishment and demolition with, on average, around 35,000 removals taking place each year. The Government could only advocate a more proactive course of action in this area if there was compelling evidence that the increase in exposure to asbestos workers is justified, in terms of reducing the possible risk to building users.

NIA Academy

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has held recent discussions with Haringey Council on the NIA Academy.

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has had discussions with the NIA Academy on its obligations under section 9 of the Equality Act 2010.

Nick Gibb: The Secretary of State has asked the Regional Director to speak to Haringey Council and Haringey Education Partnership about their work with the Northampton International Academy (NIA). They confirmed the initiative was set up to address large and longstanding differences in attainment between black heritage students and white British students in Haringey. Whilst the initiative is targeted towards black heritage students, it is open to pupils of all ethnicities. They also confirmed that the programme does not introduce pupils to critical race theory.The Department’s guidance to schools on political impartiality is clear. Schools must remain politically impartial and should be mindful of the need not to promote partisan political views to pupils.As an out of school setting, the NIA Academy is not regulated under education or childcare law. This means that the Department does not set the admissions framework for these settings, and so the Department has not contacted the organisation directly.

Department for Education: Ministers

Wendy Chamberlain: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, on how many occasions a request for a meeting by an hon. Member was not agreed to by (a) a Minister and (b) their office on behalf of a Minister in the last 12 months.

Nick Gibb: Engagement with hon. Members is a priority for the Secretary of State and her ministers, and every effort is made to respond to their requests for meetings promptly.The specific information requested is not centrally collated and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. Ministers at the Department will regularly seek to engage with hon. Members, whilst balancing wider Ministerial and Parliamentary responsibilities.

Department for Education: Buildings

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the implications for its policies of the use of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete in the construction of buildings operated under its remit.

Nick Gibb: It is the responsibility of those who run schools and who work with their schools day to day to manage the safety and maintenance of their buildings. This includes academy trusts, Local Authorities, and voluntary aided school bodies. The Department provides support on a case by case basis if it is alerted to a serious safety issue which responsible bodies cannot manage independently.Nothing is more important than the safety of pupils and teachers. This is why the Department has been putting significant funding into transforming schools across the country. Where there are serious safety issues with a building, the Department supports responsible bodies to take immediate and swift action to ensure the safety of pupils and school staff.Reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) was in use between the 1950s and mid 1990s, a time when school construction was generally the responsibility of Local Authorities. During this period, the Department published guidance on school buildings most commonly through the Building Bulletin series, in which there was no policy mandating the materials to be used.The Department is working with responsible bodies, schools, and colleges to support them through the process of investigation, assessment and management of RAAC.Where a school or responsible body has a significant issue with a school building either for RAAC or other condition issues that cannot be managed with local resources, the Department’s policy is to provide additional advice and support on a case by case basis.

Higher Education: Overseas Students

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent discussions she has had with (a) Universities UK and (b) UK universities on (i) diversifying international student recruitment and (ii) the potential risks arising from reliance on international students from a small number of countries.

Robert Halfon: The government appreciates the significant economic and cultural contribution that international students make to the UK’s higher education (HE) sector and their positive impact on our society as a whole. The department is proud to have met its international student recruitment ambition two years running by attracting 600,000 international students.Ministers and officials regularly speak to the HE sector, including sector bodies such as Universities UK and HE providers, on a range of issues.The government’s International Education Strategy makes clear that the internationalisation of the HE sector cannot come at any cost. A key element of that strategy is diversification. Universities must ensure they have appropriate processes in place to manage risks associated with dependence on a single source of funding, whether that is from a single organisation or a single country.The Office for Students (OfS), the regulator of HE in England, monitors the risk of over-reliance on overseas income at a sector level. The role of the OfS is not to direct how HE providers manage themselves or to limit their recruitment from a particular country of origin, but to ensure they understand where there is greater reliance and how any risks are being managed, and to take action to protect students from the consequences of unmanaged financial risk, if necessary.

Academies: Multi-academy Trusts

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether it remains her Department's policy for all schools to join academy trusts by 2030.

Nick Gibb: I refer the hon. Member for Portsmouth South to the answer of 9 February 2023 to Question 121149.

Universities: Finance

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many universities she has assessed as carrying a financial risk over their future viability.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made an assessment of the potential differences in financial risk affecting (a) pre and (b) post 1992 universities.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of international students on the financial viability of higher education institutions.

Robert Halfon: The Office for Students (OfS) is the independent regulator of higher education (HE) in England. The OfS monitors the financial viability and sustainability of providers registered with them.In May 2023, the OfS published a report stating that the overall aggregate financial position of universities is sound. However, there continue to be significant differences between individual providers, both across the sector and within peer groups. The OfS also assessed the key risks facing the financial sustainability of the HE sector. The report sets out the main risks of those within different peer groups.The OfS expects that any provider relying on overseas fees and growth in overseas students has contingency plans to protect its financial sustainability. The OfS has written to providers that are particularly exposed to this risk to ask them to share these contingency plans.The government’s International Education Strategy and its recent update make clear that the internationalisation of the HE sector cannot come at any cost. Universities must ensure they have appropriate processes in place to manage risks associated with dependence on a single source of funding, whether that is from a single organisation, or a single nation.The department continues to work closely with the OfS and other stakeholders to keep abreast of the financial health of the sector. It is important to note that HE providers are autonomous and continue to remain responsible for the decisions they make regarding their business model and financial viability.

Schools: Parents

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress she has made on implementing the Parent Pledge outlined in the 2022 Schools White Paper.

Nick Gibb: The parent pledge set out the commitment that any child who falls behind in English or mathematics will receive targeted and evidence based support to help them catch up.The Department will continue to focus on supporting all pupils to recover from the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic through multi year recovery funding of almost £5 billion, including the National Tutoring Programme (NTP) and the Recovery Premium. Since the NTP began in November 2020, over 3 million courses have started to support pupils who have fallen behind to catch up. The Department has also provided £1 billion to extend recovery premium funding for a further two academic years in 2022/23 and 2023/24 so that schools can deliver evidence based interventions based on pupil need.More broadly, the pledge to support children to catch up is underpinned by ensuring high quality teaching and a strong curriculum. In September 2022, the Department established Oak National Academy as an Arm’s Length Body to provide high quality, adaptable and optional support, reducing workload for teachers and enabling pupils to access a high quality curriculum. As part of our teacher development reforms, the Department also introduced a fully funded new suite of National Professional Qualifications based on the best available research and evidence.The Department continues to fund schools to further improve outcomes for all pupils. Overall, the core schools’ budget is rising by over £3.9 billion this year alone, compared to the 2022/23 financial year, on top of a £4 billion cash increase last year. That’s a 16% increase in just two years. Next year, school funding will be more than £59.6 billion, which is the highest ever level in real terms per pupil.The Department welcomes the work that many schools are doing to strengthen parental engagement, for example through Parent Teacher Associations, to actively involve parents in supporting their child’s education.

Higher Education: Admissions

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to widen access to higher education.

Robert Halfon: An English 18-year-old from a disadvantaged background today is 86% more likely to go to university than in 2010, and the department wants this success to continue.The Higher Education and Research Act (HERA) 2017 established the Office for Students (OfS) as the regulator for higher education (HE). It has a statutory duty to have regard to the need to promote equality of opportunity in relation to the whole student lifecycle for disadvantaged and traditionally under-represented groups, not only access, but also student success and progression. The Director of Fair Access and Participation at the OfS has a specific role in overseeing this work and driving it forward.In November 2021, the department issued guidance to the OfS, tasking it to refocus the entire access and participation regime to create a system that supports young people from disadvantaged backgrounds. The system should ensure students are able to make the right choices, accessing and succeeding on high-quality courses which are valued by employers and lead to good graduate employment.This work aims to drive up standards in education and focus in on genuine social justice by making getting on at university as important as getting in.Prior attainment is a key determinant of successful participation in HE. That is why the department has asked universities to take on a more direct role in driving up the standards in schools.The department wants to see universities working with schools to drive up the standards and encourage aspiration and attainment, not for their own benefit by increasing numbers at their own institutions but to support students through paths that benefit them the most, including through apprenticeships, higher technical qualifications or vocational education.Uni Connect, which the department is funding at £30 million for 2023/2024, brings together partnerships of universities, colleges, and other local partners to offer activities, advice and information on the benefits and realities of going to university or college.The department knows that diversifying modes of study in HE can be an important method of broadening access and participation. We have tasked the OfS to strongly encourage providers to set themselves ambitious, measurable targets to significantly increase the proportion of students on higher and degree apprenticeships, Level 4 and 5 courses and part time study. Examples of this can be found at both universities in York as well as the Yorkshire and Humber Institute of Technology.All approved HE providers who are intending to charge fees above the basic amount are required to fully rewrite their access and participation plans to be in place for September 2025 to reflect government priorities. The OfS has identified approximately 40 HE providers who will be the first to complete this rewrite and have their new plans in place for September 2024.In March 2023, the OfS launched its Equality of Opportunity Risk Register (EORR). This will empower providers to deliver interventions for groups of students least likely to experience equal opportunity in HE settings by highlighting 12 key sector risks and the groups most likely to experience these. The department welcomes the EORR as a key marker for social justice which will help ensure that no student groups are left behind.

Childcare

Miriam Cates: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has made an estimate of the number of hours children under the age of two are likely to spend in a formal childcare due to the Government's free childcare provisions in (a) 2023, (b) 2024 and (c) 2025.

Claire Coutinho: In the Government’s Spring Budget on 15 March 2023, the Chancellor announced transformative reforms to childcare for parents, children, the economy and women. By 2027/28, the department will expect to be spending in excess of £8 billion every year on free hours and early education, helping working families with their childcare costs. This represents the single biggest investment in childcare in England ever.From April 2024, eligible working parents of 2-year-olds will be able to access 15 hours of free childcare per week (over 38 weeks a year) from the term after their 2nd birthday, benefitting parents of up to 285,000 children. This will be extended to eligible working parents of children aged 9 months and over from September 2024, benefitting up to 640,000 children in total. From September 2025, this will be extended to 30 hours of free childcare per week.Childcare is a vital enabler for parents to work. The new offer for working parents will tackle this barrier by closing the gap between parental leave ending and the government’s current entitlement offers so that more parents, and especially women, are supported to enter work.The department monitors the average hours of childcare used by children of different ages via the Childcare and Early Years Survey of Parents.In January 2023, 88.5% of disadvantaged 2-year-olds registered for the 15-hour entitlement were taking up between 12.51 and 15 hours of funded childcare per week.

Employment: Mothers

Miriam Cates: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has made an estimate of the number of mothers in the workforce who would prefer to work fewer hours or not at all to enable them to provide childcare to their children.

Miriam Cates: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of introducing an individual childcare budget to support parents with informal childcare arrangements such as that provided by (a) parents and (b) grandparents.

Miriam Cates: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an estimate of the average number of hours per week that children under the age of two spent in a formal childcare setting in (a) 2020, (b) 2021 and (c) 2022 by household income.

Claire Coutinho: The reporting year 2021 ‘Childcare and early years survey of parents’ has findings on parents’ views on ideal working arrangements. The results of this survey are available at: https://www.explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/childcare-and-early-years-survey-of-parents/2021, including table 8.12. In 2021, 39% of working mothers of 0-14 year olds stated they would give up work to look after their children, and 58% would work fewer hours, if they could afford it.The department recognises the valuable role that informal and family childcare arrangements play in supporting working parents, giving them additional flexibilities. The department is determined to support as many families as possible with access to high-quality, affordable childcare, which is why the Spring Budget 2023 announced the single largest investment in childcare ever. There are no current plans to look at the potential merits of introducing an individual childcare budget to support parents with informal childcare arrangements.In 2021 children under one spent a median of 17.4 hours per week (note very small sample sizes) and one-year-olds a median of 18 hours per week in formal childcare. This data is not published broken down by household income. Table 1.7, also taken from reporting year 2021 ‘Childcare and early years survey of parents’, contains further information. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there are no figures available for 2020. Data for 2022 is due to be published on 27 July 2023.

Teachers

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many teachers over the age of 50 (a) joined and (b) re-joined the profession in each academic year since 2019-20.

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many teachers over the age of 40 (a) joined and (b) re-joined the profession in each academic year since 2019-20.

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many teachers over the age of 60 (a) joined and (b) re-joined the profession in each academic year since 2019-20.

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many teachers over the age of 30 (a) joined and (b) re-joined the profession in each academic year since 2019-20.

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an estimate of the number of teachers that left the profession in Yorkshire and the Humber in each academic year since 2019-20.

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an estimate of the number of teachers that left the profession in the East Midlands in each academic year since 2019-20.

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many teachers in schools in the West Midlands left the profession in each academic year since 2019-20.

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many teachers in schools in the South East left the profession in each academic year since 2019-20.

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many teachers in schools in the East of England left the profession in each academic year since 2019-20.

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many teachers in schools in the (a) South West, (b) London and (c) East of England left the profession in each academic year since 2019-20.

Nick Gibb: Recent data shows that there are now over 468,000 full time equivalent (FTE) in state funded schools in England, which is an increase of 27,000 (6%) since 2010. This makes the highest number of FTE teachers since the School Workforce Census began in 2010.Information on the school workforce in England, including the number and characteristics (age, gender, ethnicity, working pattern and post) of teachers joining and leaving service nationally, is published in the ‘School Workforce in England’ statistical publication, available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england. Information for entrants by age, type and academic year is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/295abd8b-e85d-478f-1bad-08db839d58e2.The table attached provides the latest data for academic years 2010/11 to 2021/22 of the FTE number of qualified teachers leaving and the leaving rate, from state funded school, by region. For consistency with previously provided information, entrants numbers and rates have also been provided. Figures for 2022/23 leavers are not available yet as they will be identified by their absence from the November 2023 census.Leavers are defined as qualified teachers leaving the state funded sector in England, for example due to a change of career or joining other UK education sectors, and those leaving on career breaks such as maternity leave or secondments outside of the school sector. Some of these teachers may rejoin a state funded school in England at a later date.FTE_teachers_table (pdf, 173.6KB)

Special Educational Needs

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make it her policy to require local authorities to undertake an assessment of SEND provision for pupils in schools in their area.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure an adequate provision of support for SEND pupils in mainstream schools.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure that children with additional needs are adequately supported in mainstream schools.

Claire Coutinho: The department is determined that all children and young people receive the support they need to benefit from their education and progress to the next stage of their lives. All teachers should be confident in identifying and supporting pupils with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND). The SEND code of practice: 0-25 Years (2015) sets out what schools should do to fulfil their duties to identify and support all children with SEND, regardless of whether they have an Education, Health and Care plan.The department published the SEND and Alternative Provision improvement plan in March 2023. Quality teaching and support are vital for children with SEND, including those in mainstream schools, to reach their full potential. We will introduce a new leadership level special educational needs coordinator national professional qualification for schools. The department is also taking steps to build teacher expertise in meeting the needs of children with SEND through a review of the initial teacher training core content framework and early career framework.The most recent Ofsted education inspection framework also places greater emphasis on what schools are doing to support children and young people with SEND to progress and achieve their goals.All local authorities are subject to robust SEND inspections, and Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission have just commenced a strengthened local inspection framework, which places greater emphasis on the experiences and outcomes of children and young people and their families. Where local authorities are failing, the department works with them, using a range of improvement programmes and support from SEND specialist advisers, to address weaknesses

Sign Language: Education

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she is taking steps to improve access to British Sign Language classes for families of children who suffer from hearing impairment.

Claire Coutinho: Access to British Sign Language (BSL) classes is funded through the adult education budget (AEB) for qualifications in or focussing on BSL up to and including level 2. About 60% of the AEB has been devolved to mayoral combined authorities and the Greater London Authority, who determine which provision to fund for learners who live in their areas. The Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) provides the remaining funding for learners who live in non-devolved areas.ESFA-funded AEB qualifications include, for example, the Level 1 Award in BSL which allows learners to communicate in BSL on a range of topics that involve simple, everyday language use, thereby giving them the basic skills and confidence in production and reception of BSL. It will depend on an individual’s circumstances as to whether they are entitled to free provision or expected to meet part of the cost through co-funding. Where community learning providers offer BSL courses, those providers are responsible for determining the course fees, including levels of fee remission.For some BSL courses, Advanced Learner Loans (ALLs) are available, and parents can find more information about which qualifications are eligible at: https://www.qualifications.education.gov.uk/Search. More general information about the provision of ALLs is available at: https://www.gov.uk/advanced-learner-loan.For parents learning BSL on an AEB-funded course, there is also additional support available. The AEB provides funding to colleges and providers to help adult learners overcome barriers preventing them from accessing learning. Providers have discretion to help learners meet costs such as transport, accommodation, books, equipment, and childcare. Learning support funding also helps colleges and training providers to meet the additional needs of learners with learning difficulties and/or disabilities and the costs of reasonable adjustments, as set out in the Equality Act 2010.

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities

High Rise Flats: Floods

Tom Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps his Department is taking to support residents who are evacuated from high-rise residential buildings as a result of flooding.

Rachel Maclean: Flooding in buildings, unless part of a major, wide-area incident, is normally locally managed. In terms of supporting evacuated residents in such circumstances, normally a building owner or insurer will provide alternative accommodation.Local authorities also have statutory duties to assist households that are homeless or threatened with homelessness (subject to households being eligible, including having recourse to public funds and being habitually resident).Local authorities must take reasonable steps to prevent and/or relieve homelessness for eligible households. They must also provide temporary accommodation until long-term settled housing is secured for households that have priority need; this includes any household with a dependent child and households that are homeless as a result of an emergency such as flood, fire or other disaster.

Housing: Disability and Older People

Ben Everitt: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that accessible and adaptable homes are available for older and disabled people.

Rachel Maclean: Planning rules already mean that councils must consider the needs of older and disabled people when planning new homes. The National Model Design Code provides tools and guidance to local councils for producing design codes; it details how the ten characteristics in the National Design Guide can be translated into design standards in local design codes. My Hon Friend will want to know that the Government has set out its intention to mandate higher accessibility standards for all new homes by raising the minimum standard in Building Regulations in England in due course.

Public Lavatories: Incontinence

Peter Dowd: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department plans to consult on the implementation of incontinence bins in publicly accessible male toilets as part of the technical consultation on the provision of toilets.

Rachel Maclean: The Government encourages the provision of sanitary bins in publicly accessible toilets.

Asylum: Portland Port

Zarah Sultana: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department had discussions with the Home Department on the suitability of the Bibby Stockholm as accommodation.

Rachel Maclean: In line with the practice of successive administrations, details of internal discussions are not normally disclosed.

Private Rented Housing

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what recent assessment his Department has made of the implications for its policies of the long-term viability of the buy-to-let sector.

Rachel Maclean: The Renters (Reform) Bill Impact Assessment (IA) was submitted to the Regulatory Policy Committee for review before the Bill was introduced and has now been published. The green-rated IA shows that the net cost to landlords of the reforms in the Bill is estimated to be just £10 per rented property annually - approximately 0.1% of mean annual rents. This cost is unlikely to lead to good landlords leaving the sector.

Homelessness

Tom Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of local authorities sending homeless people to be accommodated in main towns of other local authorities.

Rachel Maclean: The Homelessness Code of Guidance is clear that local authorities should, as far as possible, avoid placing homeless households out of their borough. However, where there is a limited supply of suitable accommodation, we are aware that sometimes it is necessary to place households in temporary accommodation outside of the local area.Legislation stipulates that where temporary accommodation is provided, it must be suitable, taking account of the needs of the household. If a local authority places a household into accommodation in another local area, they are required by law to notify the local authority of any placement, to minimise disruption to schooling or employment.

Refugees: Ukraine

Holly Mumby-Croft: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps his Department is taking to support Ukrainian families to find accommodation.

Rachel Maclean: We have provided councils with extensive tariff funding, including an additional £150 million to support Ukrainian guests to move into their own homes. Funding is un-ringfenced, which allows councils to use the funding as best suits their area, including measures to support guests to access the private rented sector.The Local Authority Housing Fund provides capital funding directly to councils in England to obtain housing for Ukrainian and Afghan families and in the longer term will provide a new and permanent supply of accommodation for local communities.We have published guidance on renting to help households who wish to move on from sponsorship by accessing private accommodation.

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities: Buildings

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment his Department has made of the implications for his policies of the use of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete in the construction of buildings operated under its remit.

Rachel Maclean: The Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities has a duty of care to ensure that its buildings are safe and without risks to the health of our staff, visitors and members of the public with access. The Department has made a preliminary assessment of buildings it occupies and concluded that very few, if any, are likely to have been constructed using reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete. The Government Property Agency manages the Department's estate on a day to day basis. The Department has commissioned the Agency to take action so that it can deem the buildings the Department occupies are safe and alert it to any risks.

Department of Health and Social Care

Medical Equipment and Protective Clothing: Waste Disposal

Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what data his Department holds on the volume of (a) palettes and (b) tons of publicly procured unused personal protective equipment disposed of in England from storage facilities between 1 April 2023 to 30 June 2023.

Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information his Department holds on the (a) contracted cost and (b) potential savings made in respect of the disposal of unused publicly procured PPE between (a) 1 January and 30 March 2023 and (b) 1 April 2023 and 30 June 2023.

Will Quince: Approximately 130,000 pallets of excess stock have been exited from storage facilities in the United Kingdom from 1 April 2023 to 30 June 2023, with the vast majority of this being through recovery activities (recycling and energy-from-waste processes). For stock subjected to recovery activities, details around tonnage are being compiled and are expected to be available in an upcoming publication for excess stock, currently scheduled for October 2023.The contracted cost for exiting this stock was in the region of £11 million and the storage cost savings associated with their exit are approximately £16.6 million per year.In the previous quarter, from 1 January to 30 March 2023, approximately 100,000 pallets of excess personal protective equipment stock held in the UK was exited. The contracted cost for exiting this stock through recovery and disposal activities was in the region of £10 million and the scaled storage cost savings associated with their exit are £12.8 million per year.

NHS Trusts: Databases

Mr David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 23 March 2023 to Question 160180 on NHS Trusts: Databases, for what reason each NHS Trust paused or suspended pilots of Palantir Foundry.

Mr David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 23 March 2023 to Question 160180 on NHS Trusts: Databases, whether any of the Trusts that had (a) paused and (b) suspended pilots of Palantir Foundry have (i) resumed and (ii) restarted their pilots since 23 March 2023.

Will Quince: There are currently two main Foundry pilots delivering benefits to trusts, namely the Improving Elective Care Coordination for Patients (IECCP) Programme which supports trusts to effectively deliver care through the implementation of the Care Coordination Solution (CCS); and the Dynamic Discharge programme to support effective hospital discharge. The table below shows those trusts that are listed as either pausing or suspending these pilots in March 2023 and gives the reason why for each: TrustIECCP solutionDynamic Discharge solutionChesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Foundation Trust Paused due to upgrade of supporting systems within the Trust; due to restart once upgrades are complete.East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust Declined offer following discussions as existing system provided current capabilities.London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust Paused temporarily due to impact of strike action within Trust.Milton Keynes University Hospital NHS Foundation TrustTrust chose to address internal process change before participating in a digital transformation programme. Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust Paused whilst work is completed to enable Dynamic Discharge module.Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust Paused due to operational pressures.University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Foundation TrustTrust chose to address internal process change before participating in a digital transformation programme. University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust Paused due to other programmes of work within their IT department.University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust Paused due to operational pressures, strike action and a recent EPR upgrade.Liverpool Heart & Chest HospitalFollowing discussions, it was agreed that the pilot products were not designed to address the Trust’s particular issues. University Hospital Plymouth NHS TrustThe Trust made the decision not to participate in the programme based on lack of capacity of Trust resources to engage with the programme.   Notes:There are no trusts where the Dynamic Discharge programme is live, but IECCP is paused. The IECCP programme is live in some Trusts where implementation of Dynamic Discharge was paused in March. These Trusts are as follows: - East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust;- London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust;- Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust; and- University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust. The following trusts have re-engaged with the programme and are in the process of restarting with the Dynamic Discharge solution: - Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Foundation Trust;- London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust; and- Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. Discussions are ongoing with some other trusts about the best time to re-engage with the Dynamic Discharge programme.

Hospitals: Construction

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many FTE staff in his Department are working on the New Hospitals Programme.

Will Quince: At the end of March 2023, the number of full-time equivalent (FTE) staff in the Department working in the New Hospital Programme was 49. However, in July the New Hospital Programme transitioned to a Sponsor (Department of Health and Social Care)/Delivery (NHS England) model. As such, certain functions have moved under NHS England as part of this new model. The current number of staff that are working on the New Hospital Programme in the Department is 16.8 FTE.The new model ensures clear lines of accountability across the Department and NHS England and is consistent with how many major programmes within Government are structured. Adopting this shared operational model provides improved decision-making processes and establishes greater responsibility throughout the programme.

Asylum: Portland Port

Zarah Sultana: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department had discussions with the Home Department on the suitability of the Bibby Stockholm as accommodation.

Maria Caulfield: Developing accommodation sites for asylum seekers is a priority for the Government and officials from the Department of Health and Social Care are working with the Home Office and other Government departments to support delivery of these sites, including the Bibby Stockholm vessel at Portland Port.

Mental Health Services: Asylum

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for the Home Department on mental health support services that are available to asylum seekers and refugees.

Maria Caulfield: Officials from the Department of Health and Social Care are working with the Home Office and other Government departments to support access to mental health support services by asylum seekers and refugees.

Death

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the (a) causes of excess deaths in the last three years and (b) implications for his policies of those causes.

Neil O'Brien: The Department will continue to monitor and report on levels of excess deaths. The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities regularly publishes estimates of excess mortality in England. They adjust for population growth and ageing. This provides further insight on the causes of death driving the excess mortality. A combination of factors has contributed to excess deaths, including high flu prevalence, the ongoing challenges of COVID-19 and health conditions such as heart disease and diabetes.On 24 January 2023, the Government announced that it will publish a Major Conditions Strategy, and an interim report will be published later in the summer. The strategy will set out a strong and coherent policy agenda that sets out a shift to integrated, whole-person care. The strategy will tackle conditions that contribute most to morbidity and mortality across the population in England, including, cancers, cardiovascular disease, including stroke and diabetes, chronic respiratory diseases, dementia, mental ill-health and musculoskeletal conditions.

Alcoholic Drinks: Labelling

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing alcohol labelling that states the associated health risks of alcohol consumption.

Neil O'Brien: The United Kingdom Chief Medical Officers’ Low Risk Drinking guidelines highlight that the risk of developing a range of health problems, including cancer, increases the more you drink alcohol on a regular basis. The Government published voluntary guidance regarding how these guidelines could be communicated on pre-packaged alcohol products. This guidance is available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/communicating-the-uk-chief-medical-officers-alcohol-guidelines

Alcoholic Drinks: Misuse

Navendu Mishra: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate the Government has made of the financial impact of alcohol harm on each (a) local authority and (b) integrated care board annually; and if he will make a statement.

Neil O'Brien: No assessment has been made.

Department for Work and Pensions

State Retirement Pensions: Women

Neale Hanvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he plans to take steps to provide additional financial support to women born in the 1950s who have been affected by changes in the State Pension age.

Laura Trott: The Government decided over 25 years ago that it was going to make the State Pension age the same for men and women. Had the State Pension age not been equalised, women who would be retiring today upon reaching the age of 60, would be expected to spend (on average) over 40% of their adult lives in receipt of State Pension. This decision has been upheld by successive governments. The Government is committed to delivering a comprehensive package of support to help older workers to remain and return to work. This includes intensive tailored support for eligible Universal Credit job seekers; 50PLUS Champions in every Jobcentre Plus district across GB; and the delivery of Midlife MOTs in Jobcentres, in three pilot areas over the next 2 years to people in work, and digitally to help people in their 40s, 50s and 60s to review and take stock of their finances, skills and health.

State Retirement Pensions: Women

Neale Hanvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent discussions he has had with relevant stakeholders on pensions for women born in the 1950s.

Laura Trott: The Minister for Pensions has not met any stakeholders from groups representing women born in the 1950s. Whilst the Ombudsman investigation is underway it would be inappropriate to meet with representatives involved.

State Retirement Pensions: Women

Neale Hanvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he has made a recent assessment of the potential merits of providing financial compensation to all 1950s born women affected by changes to the state pension age.

Laura Trott: We have made no recent assessment.

Cold Weather Payments

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will amend the Cold Weather Payment scheme so that payments are provided every time extreme cold is forecast for the following day; and if he will make a statement.

Laura Trott: There are currently no plans to change the Cold Weather Payment scheme. A £25 payment is made when the average temperature has been recorded as, or is forecast to be, 0ºC or below over seven days at the weather station linked to the eligible customer's postcode. The seven consecutive days is a clear and reasonable measure of a sustained period of cold weather. A payment is made automatically within 14 working days of a trigger to ensure claimants receive payments at the time of need.

Social Security Benefits: Standards

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department is taking steps to improve how it communicates changes to the eligibility criteria for benefits.

Mims Davies: The government’s benefit eligibility checker details the support available to individuals in a user friendly and clear way and can be found here. The benefits checker tool is a primary call to action for the Help for Households campaign which has been marketed extensively since July 2022 in order to promote the 40 schemes available to support with the cost of living. Since the tool launched in June 2022, it has been used over 2.4 million times.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Butterflies: Conservation

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions she has held with representatives from the RSPCA on long-term trends in the numbers of butterfly species.

Trudy Harrison: The Secretary of State meets with relevant stakeholders frequently. The Government’s indicators of the abundance of UK butterflies show that since 1976, populations of habitat specialists have declined significantly, though species of the wider countryside show no significant change. Since 2014, both trends show no significant change. We are keeping these trends under review as encouraging but not yet definitive signs of progress. In England, we have now set four legally binding targets for biodiversity. By 2030 we have committed to halt the decline in species abundance and by 2042 we aim to reverse species decline; to reduce the risk of species extinction; and to restore or create more than 500,000 hectares of wildlife-rich habitats. We have set out our plan to deliver on these ambitious targets, along with our other environmental targets, in the revised Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP23) published 31 January 2023. Here we link the different objectives, plans and mechanisms for recovering nature.

Animal Welfare: Fish Farming

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 10 March 2023 to Question 158986 on Animal Welfare: Fish Farming, what discussions she has had with (a) Cabinet colleagues and (b) relevant stakeholders on the recommendations of the Animal Welfare Committee's Opinion on the Welfare of Farmed Fish at the Time of Killing 2023.

Mark Spencer: A range of topics are discussed with Cabinet colleagues but such discussions are confidential. Defra officials will engage with relevant stakeholders to discuss the recommendations in the Animal Welfare Committee’s report once it is published.

Rivers: Suffolk

Tom Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to help improve the environmental condition of the River Gipping in Suffolk.

Rebecca Pow: The Environment Agency, whilst taking account of the aspirations of other river users, works with partners to restore a more naturally functioning river which will support natural habitats and a rich biodiversity. Using Defra’s Water Environment Improvement Fund, the Environment Agency has worked with Suffolk Wildlife Trust on several projects to enhance wildlife and the resilience of the river environment to the impacts of climate change. The Environment Agency has also funded Groundwork to deliver the Yellow Fish Project (http://oilcare.org.uk/avoid-pollution/yellow-fish) which focused on pollution prevention messages to the community, businesses and schools in the towns of Needham Market and Stowmarket in 2019/20. A further Yellow fish project is currently running in Ipswich in 2023-4 including on the lower River Gipping funded by the Environment Agency. The Environment Agency continues to hold water companies to account to reduce pollution, tackle storm overflows and invest more into the environment; work with farmers to support environmentally friendly farming that doesn’t damage water quality; respond to environmental incidents to stop and reverse damage to our rivers as well as prosecute the most serious polluters. As well as the protection of water quality, the Environment Agency has a permitting and regulatory system that protects water quantity. Additionally the Environment Agency has a regulatory role to ensure that physical modification does not reduce the ecological and biological value of the river. This could include things such as the removal of bankside trees and vegetation.

Swimming: Private Property

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions she has had with the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs in Northern Ireland on consultation with local authorities on the designation of bathing waters on private land.

Rebecca Pow: The Secretary of State has not had any discussions with the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs in Northern Ireland on consultations with local authorities on the designation of bathing waters on private land.

Canal and River Trust: Finance

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how she plans to monitor the compliance of the Canal and River Trust with certain conditions for a new long term funding package.

Rebecca Pow: Monitoring compliance with the conditions of the new grant funding package will be subject to agreement with the Canal and River Trust and confirmed when the new Grant Agreement is signed in due course. We anticipate that those arrangements will be similar to the present ones, including quarterly formal meetings and monitoring achievement of key performance indicators. There will also be provision for an independent review of delivery against the indicators.

Rivers: Suffolk

Tom Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the environmental condition of the River Gipping in Suffolk.

Rebecca Pow: The Environment Agency monitors the water quality, ecology (plants, invertebrates and fish) rainfall, river flows and groundwater levels of the River Gipping and its catchment. The Environment Agency delivered a fish survey report in 2019 for the River Gipping which indicated that fish populations within the river are stable, with an average of 10 species being recorded at each of the five survey sites. A further survey was completed this year and the results are still being analysed. The river is currently at Moderate Ecological Potential, with a target to achieve Good Ecological Potential by 2027. The main sources of pollution are agriculture and the water industry and there is a growing threat from plastics and forever chemicals.

Recycling: Public Consultation

Gareth Bacon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to her Department’s consultation on Consistency in household and business recycling in England, for what reason her Department has not yet published (a) the results of and (b) her Department’s response to the consultation entitled Consistency in household and business recycling in England; and when she expects to do so.

Rebecca Pow: We received 896 responses to this consultation. Due to the large scope of the consultation, we wanted to carefully analyse the responses before making key policy decisions. Given the scale of change that will be required by this package of reforms we must ensure we take the time to get them right so they will be as effective as possible in achieving our objectives. We will be publishing our response to the consultation shortly which will confirm implementation dates and materials in scope for consistent collection, as well as our consultation on statutory guidance.

Air Pollution: Monitoring

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what information her Department holds on the number of PM2.5 monitors installed in each (a) constituency and (b) localauthority area in each of the last five years.

Trudy Harrison: The Environment Agency operates the Automatic Urban and Rural Network (AURN) on behalf of Defra and the devolved administrations for the purposes of assessing PM2.5 levels across the UK. There are currently 103 sites monitoring PM2.5 on this network and the table below shows how these sites are distributed by local authority (Nb Local Authorities may also undertake their own monitoring but these are not included). The AURN network is in the process of being expanded for the purposes of assessing the new PM2.5 targets in England and more sites will be coming online over the next 2-3 years. Local Authority20192020202120222023Aberdeen City11211Belfast11111Bexley11111Birmingham33322Blackpool11111Bournemouth11111Bristol, City of11111Camden22222Cardiff11111Carlisle11211Central Bedfordshire11111Chesterfield22222Christchurch11111Cornwall11111Coventry11111Derry11111Eastbourne11111Edinburgh, City of11111Falkirk11111Fermanagh and Omagh11111Glasgow City22222Greenwich11111Highland11111Hillingdon11122Inverclyde11111Kensington and Chelsea11111Kingston upon Hull, City of11111Leeds22222Leicester11111Lewisham11111Liverpool11111Manchester11111Medway22222Middlesbrough11111Midlothian11111Monmouthshire11111Neath Port Talbot11111Newcastle upon Tyne11111Newport11111North Devon11111Northampton11111Norwich11111Nottingham11111Oxford11111Pembrokeshire11111Plymouth11111Portsmouth11111Preston11111Reading11111Richmond11111Salford11122Sheffield22233Southampton11111Southend-on-Sea11111Stockton-on-Tees22222Stoke on Trent11111Sunderland11111Swansea11111Test Valley11111Thurrock11122Warrington11111Warwick22222Westminster22222Wigan11111Wirral11111Worthing11111Wrexham11111York22222Brighton and Hove11111CanterburyNANANA11Cheshire EastNANANA11East CambridgeshireNANANA11East DevonNANANA11East StaffordshireNANANA11HartlepoolNANANA11HertsmereNANANA11KirkleesNANANA11North East LincolnshireNANANA11North NorfolkNANANA11RyedaleNANANA11South SomersetNANANA11SwindonNANANA11TeignbridgeNANANA11Telford and WrekinNANANA11TendringNANANA11WealdenNANANA11BarnsleyNANANANA1Milton KeynesNANANANA1

Game: Birds

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which organisations Ministers in her Department met between 1 May 2022 and 31 May 2023 to discuss General Licence 43 for releasing gamebirds in protected areas.

Trudy Harrison: The Department has held frequent meetings with stakeholders, including those interested in the release of gamebirds.

Game: Birds

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with which stakeholders Ministers in her Department held discussions on the renewal of General Licence 43 for releasing gamebirds on protected areas between 1 May 2022 and 31 May 2023.

Trudy Harrison: The Department has held frequent meetings with stakeholders, including those interested in the release of gamebirds.

Home Office

Fraud: Telephones

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions she has held with the Police Service of Northern Ireland on tackling telephone fraud.

Tom Tugendhat: This Government is committed to doing everything we can to stop criminals abusing telecommunications networks. As a part of the Fraud Strategy, we announced a consultation on extending the ban on cold calls to include all financial products. We have also consulted on stopping criminals from getting hold of SIM farms. We are currently considering what action needs to be taken to prevent criminals from abusing mass texting services.These actions are in addition to the Telecommunications Fraud Charter, which is a voluntary agreement with the telecommunication sector that has resulted in over 600 million scam texts and tens of millions of scam calls being blocked. It is available here: Fraud sector charter: telecommunications - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)We continue to regularly engage with officials from the devolved governments, including Northern Ireland, on tackling fraud. This includes a discussion on fraud at the National Policing Board on 8 March 2023, chaired by the Home Secretary and attended by the Chief Constable of PSNI. Agenda and minutes are available online: National Policing Board - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

National Security: China

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the impact of China's policies towards the UK on national security.

Tom Tugendhat: As the Integrated Review Refresh (IRR) 2023 made clear, China poses an epoch-defining challenge to the type of international order we want to see, both in terms of security and values. As you would expect, we continually assess threats to UK national security and we will continue to strengthen our national security protections in those areas where the actions of the CCP pose a threat to our people prosperity and security.The National Security Act 2023 will enable our law enforcement and intelligence agencies to deter, detect, and disrupt the full range of modern day state threats, including from China.

Uranium: Iran

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her Department's policies of alleged traces of uranium being sent to Iranian-registered businesses in the UK.

Tom Tugendhat: Cyclamen is the UK’s radiological and nuclear detection capability deployed at UK ports of entry, targeted for the illicit movement of radioactive materials. It is one element of the Government's strategy to reduce the threat of terrorist attack.As outlined in the updated CONTEST strategy, published on 18 July 2023, we are investing in specialist capabilities, to protect the UK from a range of threats including chemical, biological, radioactive and nuclear.This includes enhancing our existing Cyclamen radiological and nuclear border detection capability, upgrading our inland radiological and nuclear detection equipment and ensuring our emergency services have the capability they need to effectively respond to the malicious use of radiological or nuclear materials.

Repatriation: China

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Intelligence and Security Committee Report on China, HC 1605, published 13 July 2023, what information her Department holds on (a) the number of coerced repatriations made by foreign states of their nationals from the UK in each of the last three years and (b) which states are known to have conducted repatriations of UK residents through coerced means.

Tom Tugendhat: We continually assess potential threats in the UK, and take protection of individuals’ rights, freedoms, and safety in the UK very seriously.Whilst it is our long-standing policy not to provide detailed information on security and intelligence matters, where we identify individuals at heightened risk, we are front footed in deploying protective security guidance and other measures as appropriate.Any threats made by a foreign state against individuals in the UK will be thoroughly investigated.

Economic Crime

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what her Departments planned timetable is (a) to undertake the survey process, (b) for the resulting findings to be submitted to her Department and (c) to publish a final report for the expanded version of the 2020 Economic Crime Survey commissioned by her Department.

Tom Tugendhat: Scoping work for a second Economic Crime survey is well underway, with the fieldwork period planned for Winter 2023/24, and findings from the survey expected around Spring 2024.Decisions on publication and any related arrangements are yet to be finalised: this will be done after quality assurance checks and academic peer review of the final survey.

Personation

Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will consider the potential merits of making identity theft a recordable crime.

Tom Tugendhat: Existing legislation, such as the Fraud Act 2006, the Computer Misuse Act 1990, the Identity Documents Act 2010, and the Data Protection Act 2018, already covers existing cases where criminals use stolen identities to commit crime, and the protection of personal data. As such, at this time, we do not intend to make identity theft a criminal offence.We are aware of the harms caused by identity theft, and we recognise that the most effective way of preventing it is to improve the safety and security of the identity systems we use. We continue looking at what more can be done to ensure that identity systems remain secure and robust against potential attack.Additionally, a central part of the Government’s new Fraud Strategy is to empower the public to further protect themselves from fraud by delivering clear, consistent and timely messaging which will helps millions more to prevent their data from being stolen.

Migrants: Health Services

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has undertaken an impact assessment on the potential fiscal impact of increases of the (a) immigration health surcharge and (b) student visas on the (i) number of international students, (ii) economy and (iii) higher education sector.

Robert Jenrick: Regulations will be laid in Autumn to amend the Immigration Health Surcharge (Heath Charge) Order and a full economic impact assessment will be prepared. The expectation of the Government is that migrants coming to the UK to work should be able to maintain and support themselves, reflecting the need to maintain the confidence of the general public that immigration brings benefits to our country. The Immigration Health Surcharge rates have not increased since 2020, and the cost of providing public services has increased in that time. It is right that we keep the IHS level under review to ensure that it reflects the genuine cost to the NHS of providing healthcare to those who pay it.

Court Orders: Children

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the adequacy of the systems used by the Border Force to prevent children subject to court orders from travelling abroad.

Robert Jenrick: The Home Office receives information relating to people entering and leaving the UK from air, rail and maritime carriers. This information is shared with the Police. The systems used to prevent children subject to court orders from travelling overseas are operated by Counter Terrorist Police on behalf of territorial policing.Port Alert Orders are signed and issued by a Judge at the Family Court; they are in response to an immediate threat that a child is at risk of being taken out of the UK. Due to the immediacy of the risk, the Judge will usually authorise the Order for a timebound period e.g. 28 days. Once signed, the Court, Solicitor or parent / guardian applicant sends a copy of the order to the police. If the child attempts to travel out of the UK (in a name / passport provided to the police), then an intervention will take place by uniform policing colleagues at the port the child is leaving from.

Court Orders: Children

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many times children who were subject to court orders preventing them from leaving the UK were allowed to leave the UK in the last (a) three, (b) six and (c) 12 months.

Chris Philp: The Home Office does not hold any information on children subject to court orders which prevent them leaving the UK.

Home Office: Aviation

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to sub-target two of the Greening Government Commitments reporting requirements for 2021 to 2025 last updated on 15 December 2022, whether her Department follows the encouragement in that guidance to (a) monitor and (b) report on the number of domestic flights for which her Department is responsible each year; and how many domestic flights were taken by Ministers in her Department in (i) 2021 and (ii) 2022.

Chris Philp: Under the Greening Government Commitments (GGCs) 2021 to 2025 framework reporting requirements departments and partner organisations are required to report the total distance travelled by domestic business flights. In-year carbon conversion factors will be used to arrive at the total emissions from each department’s domestic business flights. This will be published in future GGC annual reports. Departments and partner organisations are encouraged to report on the total number of domestic business flights to further our understanding of journey types.This voluntary reporting is not required to demonstrate delivery of the sub-target to reduce emissions from domestic business flights by 30%.Note that the sub-target to reduce emissions from domestic flights includes ministerial flights but these are not disaggregated in reporting under the GGCs.The Home Office does monitor and report on the number of business and operational domestic flights that are taken each year, in the Sustainability Report of the Annual Report and Accounts (ARA)Domestic flight data, which includes both Ministers and Officials, can be found at page 54 of the 2021-22 ARA.Home_Office_ARA_21-22_Final_-_Gov.uk.pdf (publishing.service.gov.uk)Disaggregating Ministers data from Officials would a require a manual review of all flight data and invoices and this can only be done at disproportionate cost.

Crime

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 1 February to Question 133963 on Crime: Research, when she plans to publish updated research on the economic and social costs of crime; and for what reason the third edition of those estimates has not been published.

Chris Philp: ‘The Economic and Social Costs of Crime’ second edition was published by the Home Office in July 2018. An update to the economic and social cost of fraud against individuals has since been published in the Fraud Strategy (May 2023). Together, these documents are currently the most comprehensive source for the estimated economic and social costs of these specified crimes against individuals and businesses.We are still reviewing more up to date estimates and therefore, as in February, we do not have any plans to publish. The review is being conducted by Home Office officials and not by external researchers.Since the latest release of ‘The Economic and Social Costs of Crime’, the nature of crime and therefore the related costs have likely changed. For example, crime against individuals (excluding fraud and computer misuse) has reduced by 52% since 2010 according to the Crime Survey of England and Wales. This does not specifically capture the crimes costed in ‘The Economic and Social Costs of Crime’, for example the CSEW does not capture commercial crimes.References:Fraud Strategy, Annex 3 Fraud Strategy: stopping scams and protecting the public (accessible) - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk):CSEW: Cell BB53 in Worksheet A1: https://www.ons.gov.uk/file?uri=/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/datasets/crimeinenglandandwalesappendixtables/yearendingdecember2022/appendixtablesyedec22.xlsxThe Economic and Social Costs of Crime: Second Edition The economic and social costs of crime (publishing.service.gov.uk)”

Asylum: Housing

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of changing its guidance on Allocation of asylum accommodation policy to ensure that asylum seekers enrolled on higher education courses are accommodated within a commutable distance of the institution that they are studying at.

Robert Jenrick: Our current asylum system is under extreme pressure and allocation of asylum accommodation is on a ‘no choice basis’. Any exceptional circumstances raised are taken into consideration when allocating accommodation. There are currently no plans to amend the Allocation of Asylum Accommodation policy guidance for asylum seekers who are in higher education.

Asylum: Passenger Ships

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the total cost to the public purse was of proposals to accommodate asylum seekers on cruise ships in (a) Liverpool and (b) Edinburgh.

Robert Jenrick: There is an urgent need to reduce reliance on hotels to accommodate asylum seekers, to reduce cost to taxpayer, to better manage community impacts and to better support asylum seekers. In exploring potential alternative large sites, we continue to consider all available options to source appropriate and cost-effective temporary accommodation. We work closely with stakeholders, including local authorities and our contractors, to ensure that accommodation provided for those seeking asylum is suitable. As per standard practice, audited costs for large accommodation sites will be published through the Home Office annual report and accounts.

Refugees: Community Development

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of taking steps with the devolved Administrations to develop a UK-wide strategy for refugee integration.

Robert Jenrick: Integration is a devolved matter.We discussed funding arrangements with the Devolved Administrations on the recently launched Refugee Employability Programme (REP) in order to ensure refugees across the UK are supported. The REP is a new integration and employability support service to help refugees integrate into society and become self-sufficient.We continue to engage regularly with the Devolved Administrations on a range of matters, including refugee integration, to collaborate, share best practice and discuss appropriate funding mechanisms where relevant.

Immigration Controls: Gibraltar

Apsana Begum: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of allowing people to use Gibraltan identity cards at eGates.

Apsana Begum: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of allowing people to use Irish passport cards at eGates.

Robert Jenrick: To be eligible for entry via an e-gate at present, a traveller must hold a machine-readable biometric passport. Cards are not compatible.The Government has an ambitious vision for the future UK border, in which most people crossing the border will experience an e-gate style arrival, using automation as their only point of contact.We continue to look at options for expanding the use of e-gates to cohorts of passenger not currently able to use them.

Passports: Children

Apsana Begum: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what data her Department holds on the number of children's passport renewal applications rejected on the grounds that both parents' consent could not be obtained due to the inability of one parent being unable to obtain a domestic violence related court order in each of the last three years.

Robert Jenrick: An application for a British passport in the circumstances described would not be rejected due to the omission of a Court Order alone. His Majesty’s Passport Office supports customers who are vulnerable or at risk from harm based upon their individual circumstances and will explore all options to enable a passport application to be progressed.Data relating to the reasons that an application for a British passport is rejected is not held in a reportable format and can only be obtained at a disproportionate cost.

Asylum: Boats

Zarah Sultana: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department undertook a consultation before deciding (a) to use barges and other floating vessels to accommodate people seeking asylum and (b) locating the Bibby Stockholm in Portland Port.

Zarah Sultana: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department made an (a) equality impact assessment and (b) policy equality statement on the use of the (i) Bibby Stockholm to accommodate people seeking asylum and (ii) barges and other floating vessels to accommodate people seeking asylum.

Zarah Sultana: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department conducted an impact assessment on the use of (a) the Bibby Stockholm and (b) other barges to accommodate people seeking asylum.

Zarah Sultana: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department conducted an Environmental Impact Assessment on the use of (a) the Bibby Stockholm and (b) other barges to accommodate people seeking asylum.

Zarah Sultana: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has made an assessment of the suitability of the Bibby Stockholm to berth at Portland Port as accommodation for up to 506 adults.

Robert Jenrick: An Equality Impact Assessment (EQIA) has been completed and routinely monitored to ensure that the accommodation is safe, habitable, fit for purpose and meets all regulatory requirements, for single adult male asylum seekers.We will assess individual’s suitability to reside at each location and will only accommodate individuals who are considered suitable to reside there. Each person’s suitability will be assessed at regular intervals.The sites are be designed to be as self-sufficient as possible, helping to minimise the impact on local communities and services. This includes 24/7 security to reduce the need for police patrols, on-site catering and healthcare and transport provisions for asylum seekers.We also conducted relevant assessments in line with the Home Office’s role as competent authority under the Conservation and Habitats Regulations 2017. An environmental impact assessment (EIA) screening was not required as planning permission was not required.

Frontier Workers: Work Permits

Stephen Farry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Frontier Worker Permit Scheme, what assessment she has made of the implications for her polices of a person who is eligible for a Frontier Worker Permit who has entered the UK without obtaining a Frontier Workers Permit.

Robert Jenrick: The frontier worker permit scheme implements our obligations under the Citizens’ Rights Agreements to protect the rights of EU, EEA and Swiss citizens who were frontier working in the UK (that is employed or self-employed in the UK but residing elsewhere) before the end of the transition period on 31 December 2020, for as long as they continue to be a frontier worker. Since 1 July 2021 frontier workers have been required to hold a valid frontier worker permit in order to evidence their right to enter the UK to work. Irish citizen frontier workers are not required to obtain a frontier worker permit to enter the UK to work, although they can apply for one if they wish. Frontier workers are not required to use a frontier worker permit to evidence their right to work or to access benefits and services while in the UK as they can evidence their status by other means.

Migrants: Sudan

Zarah Sultana: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what proportion of people who were evacuated from Sudan and granted six-months leave to enter the UK are residing in Coventry.

Robert Jenrick: The information requested could not be obtained without disproportionate cost.

Migrants: Sudan

Zarah Sultana: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department plans to provide indefinite leave to remain to Sudanese families in Coventry who were recently granted six-months leave to enter the UK.

Robert Jenrick: Where a person has leave in the UK but is unable to return home they should apply for Leave Outside the Rules using the FLR(HRO) form Application to extend stay in the UK: FLR(HRO) - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). Each case will be assessed on its merits. If they are unable to afford the fee then a fee waiver application can be made here: fee waiver application form

Asylum: Hong Kong

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will expedite the asylum applications of (a) former Hong Kong elected district councillors and (b) pro-democracy party leadership figures in the context of recent arrest warrants and bounties for exiled Hong Kong pro-democracy activists.

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what support her Department is offering to (a) former Hong Kong elected district councillors and (b) pro-democracy party leadership figures who have been waiting for a decision on an asylum application.

Robert Jenrick: The UK has a proud history of providing protection to those who need it. All asylum claims are considered on a case-by-case basis in line with published policy including those raised by Hong Kong nationals.Individuals from Hong Kong may also be able to apply for the Hong Kong British National (Overseas) (BN(O)) route which reflects the UK’s historic and moral commitment to those people of Hong Kong who chose to retain their ties to the UK by taking up BN(O) status before Hong Kong’s handover to China. To be eligible, applicants must have BN(O) status, or be the eligible family member of someone with BN(O) status.In November 2022, the BN(O) route was expanded to allow adult children of BN(O) status holders, aged 18 or over and who were born on or after 1 July 1997 to apply to the route independently. As of 31 March 2023, a total of 166,420 applications to the BN(O) route have been granted since its introduction.

Migrants: Housing

Tom Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department have made of the impact of immigration levels on housing availability.

Robert Jenrick: Net migration is too high and this Government is determined to bring it down to sustainable levels to help protect public services and housing supply against unsustainable pressure.   That is why on 23 May, the Government introduced a package of measures to help deliver its goal of reducing net migration. The package includes removing the right for international students to bring dependants unless they are on research postgraduate courses, and removing the ability for international students to switch out of the student route into work routes before their studies have been completed.We keep all our immigration policies under review to ensure that they best serve the UK and reflect the public’s priorities.

Undocumented Migrants

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 14 July 2023 to Question 193067, whether her Department holds data on recorded detections (a) at UK ports broken down by where they were found and (b) in the UK broken down by detections at ports serviced by juxtaposed controls.

Robert Jenrick: The Home Office does hold data on recorded detections at UK ports broken down by where they were found and in the UK broken down by detections at ports serviced by juxtaposed controls. However, it is recorded in a free text format so is not routinely published.

Home Office: Ministers

Wendy Chamberlain: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, on how many occasions a request for a meeting by an hon. Member was not agreed to by (a) a Minister and (b) their office on behalf of a Minister in the last 12 months.

Chris Philp: This information is not centrally collated and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. Ministers will regularly seek to engage with hon. Members, whilst balancing wider Ministerial and Parliamentary responsibilities.

Department for Science, Innovation and Technology

Artificial Intelligence: Safety

Darren Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what consultation her Department has held with civil society on the AI Safety Summit.

Paul Scully: The first major global summit on AI safety, hosted by the UK, will bring together key countries, as well as leading technology companies and researchers, to agree on the safety measures needed to evaluate and monitor the most significant risks emerging from the newest developments in AI technologies.The Department is committed to engaging with a wide range of stakeholders as it develops AI policy and has, throughout consultation on the AI Regulation White Paper, engaged with a wide range of stakeholders across industry, academia, regulators and civil society. The feedback received will be factored in the Department’s response to the consultation and inform the development of the regulatory framework.We are adopting this same spirit with regards to our international policy and the Summit, for which preparations are still ongoing. We look forward to sharing more information in due course.

Research: Finance

Ben Everitt: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what recent progress she has made towards the Government's target of spending £20 billion of funding from the public purse on R&D by 2024-25.

George Freeman: This Government has recommitted to increasing public expenditure on R&D to £20 billion per annum by 2024-25. This represents an increase of around a third from 2021-22.Since its creation, DSIT has made strong progress towards optimising public R&D investment in line with Government’s strategic priorities. Our Science and Technology Framework was announced alongside a raft of new measures to support the UK’s world-leading position across the technologies of tomorrow. These include £100 million in initial start-up funding for the Foundation Model Taskforce to lead vital AI safety research and £121 million to improve commercial clinical trials as part of the £650 million ‘Life Sci for Growth’ package.

Department for Science, Innovation and Technology: Ministers

Wendy Chamberlain: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, on how many occasions a request for a meeting by an hon. Member was not agreed to by (a) a Minister and (b) their office on behalf of a Minister in the last 12 months.

George Freeman: This information is not centrally collated and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. Ministers will regularly seek to engage with hon. Members, whilst balancing wider Ministerial and Parliamentary responsibilities.

Church Commissioners

Independent Safeguarding Board

Mr Ben Bradshaw: To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, with reference to the announcement by the Archbishop of York of an independent inquiry into the decision to close down the Independent Safeguarding Board, if he will publish a copy of the inquiry's finings once available.

Andrew Selous: The Archbishop of York has committed that the findings of this review will be made public.

Church of England: Finance

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, whether he has had recent discussions with local dioceses on the potential merits of devolving budgets.

Andrew Selous: Parishes already have autonomy over their finances. The Church of England has a devolved structure with operational budgets managed at the parish, diocese and national levels. Each level makes day-to-day and long-term spending decisions appropriate to its activity. There are no plans to devolve further budgetary functions.The Church Commissioners make significant money available each year through the Archbishops' Council to support various initiatives at the diocesan and parish levels. Recent funds have included money to increase opportunity for those with a vocation to train for ministry, supporting clergy posts of first responsibility, funding parish churches upgrading heating systems and giving hardship grants to dioceses to support clergy in need.   The Church Commissioners are now working with a new Strategic Mission and Ministry Investment Board to oversee the distribution of its lowest-income communities and strategic development project funding. The latest report from the Strategic Mission and Misntry Board can be found here: https://www.churchofengland.org/sites/default/files/2023-06/gs-misc-1348-final-version-2022-sib-annual-report-for-synod.pdf You can find more about the work of both the Archbishops' Council and the Church Commissioners to support parish and diocesan ministry in their Annual Reports here:The Archbihsops' Council: https://www.churchofengland.org/sites/default/files/2023-06/gs-2308-2022-archbishops-council-annual-report.pdfThe Church Commissioners: https://www.churchofengland.org/sites/default/files/2023-06/gs-misc-1342-church-commissioners-for-england-annual-report-2022-final.pdf

Church of England: Finance

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, what steps the Church is taking to allocate funding to the least affluent areas in parishes.

Andrew Selous: Parliament has most recently approved the Diocesan Stipends Funds (Amendment) Measure 2023, which has received Royal Assent. This Measure has simplified the process and enabled wealthy dioceses to share surplus funds from their Diocesan Stipends Funds with less affluent dioceses should they choose to do so. This money can only be spent on the stipends for clergy.Additionally, the Church Commissioners, whose predecessor bodies were founded to support poor clergy and poor parishes by redistributing the wealth of the Church, continue that purpose today. The primary example is through the Lowest Income Communities Fund. The Church Commissioners have also been making new money available to support vocations, training new clergy, and supporting dioceses to afford larger numbers of clergy. This money has been administered through the Archbishops' Council.

Church of England: Finance

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, what assessment the Church has made of the potential merit of separating the funding of upkeep of the material fabric of buildings and of ministers for the cure of souls.

Andrew Selous: While no specific assessment has been made of separating the upkeep of buildings from the ministers’ cure of souls, the National Church Institutions regularly review the pressure on parishes and clergy in public ministry and are committed to reducing the burdens of administration, operation, and management. The National Church Institutions continue to explore the opportunities to support parishes, and the Church Commissioners have recently launched the £14 million 'Buildings for Mission' fund, which includes funding for Church Building Support Officers and minor fabric repairs. The Church would like to thank the Government for introducing an amendment to the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill to clarify the law around churches being able to receive grant funding from local authorities.

Churches: Repairs and Maintenance

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, what recent discussions he has had with the Church Commissions on the role of charitable trusts in upkeep of church buildings.

Andrew Selous: I have not discussed with the Board of the Church Commissioners the role of charitable trusts. The Church Buildings Division of the national Church institutions are available to all parishes, diocese and cathedrals to offer advice and support about grants or maintenance. Parish Resources provides a list of grant funders. Details can be found here: https://www.parishresources.org.uk/resources-for-treasurers/funding/No major heritage funder, such as the National Lottery Heritage Fund (NHLF), has retained a ring-fenced fund to support the repair and maintain religious buildings and ecclesiastical heritage. However, the NLHF new ten-year strategy will include places of worship alongside other heritage assets.The Church of England is therefore grateful to the local philanthropists and charitable trusts, large and small, that support the maintenance of our churches and Cathedrals alongside the support from the congregations. Without their support, our nationally and internationally important church architecture and the living heritage of our parish churches and cathedrals would be at even greater risk.

Churches: VAT

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, whether the Church has made representations to the Chancellor of the Exchequer on VAT relief for the upkeep of (a) newer and (b) all church buildings.

Andrew Selous: The most recent discussions between the National Church Institutions and the Treasury about VAT on building repairs took place in 2021-2022 around the regular review of the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme.Representations were also made in 2022 by the Cathedral and Church Buildings Division of the National Church Institutions to the Secretary of State for Brexit Opportunities suggesting that VAT on repair and restoration of religious buildings be zero-rated as part of the review of EU legislation. This request was supported by the Historic Building Alliance and the wider sector. The Brexit Opportunities Department declined to take the suggestion further at the time.The Church of England is grateful to the Treasury for continuing the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme while the post-Brexit tax arrangements are bedding in as this gives certainty to churches undertaking repair and building work.More information about the scheme can be found here: https://listed-places-of-worship-grant.dcms.gov.uk/

Church of England

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, what discussions the Church Commissioners have had with stakeholders on involving parishes in discussions over their future.

Andrew Selous: Parish ministry is central to the day-to-day life of the Church of England. The General Synod, at its July 2023 session, discussed GS 2314 a paper from the Vision and Strategy Department about revitalising parish ministry. You can find the paper here: https://www.churchofengland.org/sites/default/files/2023-06/gs-2314-revitalising-the-parish.pdf  Regarding the distribution of the Church Commissioners' funds, it will be for the new Strategic Mission and Ministry Board to decide who and how they consult before making their decisions and advice regarding future investment.The latest report from the Strategic Mission and Misntry Board can be found here: https://www.churchofengland.org/sites/default/files/2023-06/gs-misc-1348-final-version-2022-sib-annual-report-for-synod.pdfInformation about the foundation of the Board and its purpose can be found here: https://www.churchofengland.org/media-and-news/press-releases/new-board-oversee-unprecedented-church-england-investment-mission-and

Church of England: Finance

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, what discussions the Church Commissioners have had with stakeholders on (a) their spending priorities and (b) how these align with the mission of the church.

Andrew Selous: The budget of the Archbishops' Council is debated at the General Synod, and members can question the chair of the Council’s Finance Committee about spending plans.   The spending plans are designed to align with the five Marks of Mission and the Vision and Strategy of the Church of England. The Five Marks of Mission were developed by the Anglican Communion and adopted at its meeting in 1984 (ACC-6) to draw the global family of Churches together around points of unity. You can find more information about this here: https://www.anglicancommunion.org/mission/marks-of-mission.aspxFor more information about how the Church of England applies the Five Marks of Mission, see here: https://www.churchofengland.org/resources/deeper-god-mission-theologyFor more information about the Church of England's Vision and Strategy set out in 2020, see the latest papers here: https://www.churchofengland.org/about/vision-and-strategy

Women and Equalities

Equal Pay

Charlotte Nichols: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, if she will set out the Government's timeline for its pay transparency pilot.

Maria Caulfield: We are currently considering the scope of the pilot and want to ensure that it provides informed insights for employers looking to implement greater pay transparency. Decisions about the form that the pilot takes will have an impact on the timeline for the work.

Treasury

Business Rates: Tax Allowances

Jane Hunt: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the (a) feasibility and (b) potential merits of extending the retail, hospitality and leisure business rates relief scheme beyond 31 March 2024 for businesses in business improvement districts.

Victoria Atkins: The 2023-2024 Retail, Hospitality and Leisure (RHL) Business Rates Relief scheme provides eligible, occupied, retail, hospitality and leisure properties with a 75 per cent relief, up to a cash cap limit of £110,000 per business. This was an expansion from the 50 per cent rate in 2022-2023. Currently, around 230,000 properties are eligible for this relief, representing a tax cut worth over £2 billion. Businesses may also benefit from other business rates measures, including the multiplier freeze, and the Supporting Small Business scheme, which caps bill increases at £600 per year for businesses losing some or all of their eligibility for Small Business or Rural Rate Relief due to the recent revaluation. Any future announcements regarding business rates relief will be made at a fiscal event.

Income Tax

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 13 July 2023 to Question 193196 on Income Tax, what is the aggregate income tax deducted at source by companies from annual payments, interest and alternative finance arrangements combined at either (a) the basic rate and (b) a reduced rate in each of the last six financial years.

Victoria Atkins: I refer the Honourable Member to the answer that I gave to PQ UIN 193196.

Exports: VAT

Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of removing the VAT retail export scheme on jobs in the (a) retail, (b) hospitality and (c) tourism sectors.

Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of removing the VAT Retail Export Scheme on small businesses.

Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of developing mitigations to help support businesses in the context of the removal of the VAT-free shopping scheme and commitments made in the Tourism Recovery Plan Update.

Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the impact of the removal of the VAT Retail Export Scheme on tourism destinations across the UK.

Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the impact of the removal of the VAT Retail Export Scheme on the economy.

Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made with Cabinet colleagues of the impact of the removal of the VAT Retail Export Scheme on the arts and culture sectors.

Victoria Atkins: The Chancellor has been clear that being responsible with the public finances is a priority. Government analysis done in 2022, which took increased tourist spending into account, found that introducing worldwide VAT-free shopping would come at a fiscal cost of around £2 billion each year. The Government engaged with varied stakeholders and produced analysis on the cost of VAT-free shopping before withdrawing the previous scheme, and the OBR’s assessment of the previous VAT Retail Export Scheme showed that its withdrawal would have a limited behavioural effect on decisions to visit, or spend, in the UK.

Royal British Legion: VAT

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if the Treasury will make an assessment of the potential merits of removing VAT from Royal British Legion products.

Victoria Atkins: The standard rate of VAT applies to most goods and services. Exceptions have always been strictly limited by legal and fiscal considerations. Where the Royal British Legion, or any other charity, chooses to offer its goods or services for free and invite a voluntary donation, with no minimum payment required and with no expectation of anything in return, there is no VAT due. However, where the Royal British Legion opts to sell its goods and services, for example by charging a set price, and is VAT-registered, it must charge VAT unless a VAT relief exists. There is no VAT relief that applies to the sale of pin badges, wooden crosses, or wristbands. However, no VAT is due on an amount paid voluntarily over and above the set price. Whilst there are no plans to make changes to the VAT treatment of Royal British Legion products, the Government keeps all taxes under review.

Inheritance Tax

Charlotte Nichols: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he plans to alter his policies on inheritance tax; and if he will make a statement.

Victoria Atkins: The Government keeps all taxes under review.

Economic Situation

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of whether the economy will experience deflation in the next five years.

Andrew Griffith: The independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) are the government’s official forecaster.

Financial Ombudsman Service: Standards

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has had recent discussions with the Financial Ombudsman Service on levels of customer satisfaction with its service.

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will take steps to commission a survey into public trust in the Financial Ombudsman Service.

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many cases have been referred to the Financial Ombudsman Service's independent assessor in the last (a) six months, (b) five years and (c) 20 years; and if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of the service provided by the Financial Ombudsman Service.

Andrew Griffith: As an independent body, the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) is governed by the framework of duties set out in legislation by Parliament. However, the Government believes it is vitally important that the FOS should be accountable for its performance and the quality of its work and will continue to hold it to account. The FOS answers to a board of directors, appointed by the Financial Conduct Authority, and must make a report each year on the discharge of its functions which is required to be laid before Parliament. This ensures Parliament is able to scrutinise the efficiency, effectiveness and economy with which the FOS carries out its functions. Treasury officials also regularly meet with FOS officials to discuss relevant emerging issues. The FOS commissioned an Independent Review of its service in 2021, which found that the FOS is widely respected and viewed as reaching fair and impartial outcomes in the majority of cases but identified some key areas for improvement. In response to the Independent Review, the FOS published its ‘Action Plan’ which sets out how it will improve its operational effectiveness and its readiness to deal with current and future challenges in the context of a rapidly evolving financial services industry. This includes improvements to its digital capabilities and financial sustainability. The FOS provides regular public updates against its progress to deliver the Action Plan which provide regular opportunities for scrutiny. In its most recent Annual Report, published in November 2022, the FOS reported that it had reduced its unallocated case backlog from 90,000 to just over 37,000 over financial year 2021-22. The Treasury will continue to monitor the FOS’s delivery of its Action Plan. The FOS Independent Assessor (IA) is a person appointed by the FOS Board who provides an important opportunity for consumers to bring complaints about the FOS’s conduct or capability. The Independent Assessor is required to take an impartial approach and can make recommendations to the FOS about operational issues such as communication and timeliness. The IA also provides important scrutiny of the FOS through their annual report which makes broader recommendations to the FOS about how it can improve its service: https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/who-we-are/governance-funding/annual-reports-accountsThe IA’s annual reports provide data on complaint numbers. The reports show that in the past 5 years, the IA reviewed around 2887 complaints. In each of these past 5 years, the number of cases reviewed by the IA represents fewer than 0.4% of all complaints brought to the FOS. Due to reporting system changes, data is not available going back 20 years.

Public Services: Car Allowances

Navendu Mishra: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential implications for his Department's policies of Unison’s report entitled Driven out of work: the impact of mileage rates on frontline public service workers, published in June 2023; and if he will make a statement.

Victoria Atkins: As with all taxes and allowances, the Government keeps the Approved Mileage Allowance Payments (AMAP) rate under review. In considering changes to the AMAP rate, the Government has to balance the responsible management of public finances, which fund our essential public services with support for individuals. Petrol and diesel prices continue to be volatile given the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and inflation remains high. So, at Spring Budget 2023 the Government announced continued support for households and businesses by maintaining the rates of fuel duty at the levels set on 23 March 2022 for an additional 12 months, by extending the temporary 5 pence fuel duty cut and cancelling the planned inflation increase for 2023-2024. That represents a saving for all drivers this year of overall around £5billion and for the average car driver around £100.

Cabinet Office

Cabinet Office: OMD Group

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 3 July to Question 191720 on Cabinet Office: OMD Group, what amounts of public money were identified in Paragraph 6.2.2.1 of Call-Off Schedule 20 of Contract Reference CCIT23A11 as (a) the forecast total spending on the Help for Households campaign up to March 2023 and (b) the current monthly paid media budgets for campaigns developed by the Government Communications Service across broadcast, digital and partnership channels.

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 3 July to Question 191720 on Cabinet Office: OMD Group, what amount of public money was identified in Paragraph 6.2.3.4 of Call-Off Schedule 20 of Contract Reference CCIT23A11 as the total media spend on campaigns developed by the Government Communications Service International in financial year 2022-23.

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 3 July to Question 191720 on Cabinet Office: OMD Group, what amount of public money was identified in Paragraph 6.2.4.2 of Call-Off Schedule 20 of Contract Reference CCIT23A11 as the anticipated total media spend for GREAT campaigns each year over the course of the contract.

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 3 July to Question 191720 on Cabinet Office: OMD Group, what amounts of public money were identified in Paragraph 6.2.5.2 of Call-Off Schedule 20 of Contract Reference CCIT23A11 as (a) the total media spend by the National Security Communications Team in financial year 2022-23 and (b) the potential media spend by that team in financial year 2023-24.

Alex Burghart: This information will not be disclosed as it is deemed commercially sensitive. We have taken this approach as disclosing such information may undermine businesses' trust in us as a commercial partner.

Intelligence and Security Committee: China

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the report by the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament entitled China, published on 13 July 2023, HC 1605, how many downloads there have been of the report (a) in total and (b) by country in which the report was downloaded; and what the top ten countries by number of downloads were.

Jeremy Quin: The Intelligence and Security Committee published its report on China through its own website, isc.independent.gov.uk, which it manages. Consequently, HM Government is not in a position to provide information relating to downloads of the report.

Cabinet Office: Ministers

Wendy Chamberlain: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, on how many occasions a request for a meeting by an hon. Member was not agreed to by (a) a Minister and (b) their office on behalf of a Minister in the last 12 months.

Jeremy Quin: This information is not centrally collated and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. Ministers will regularly seek to engage with hon. Members, whilst balancing wider Ministerial and Parliamentary responsibilities.

Intelligence and Security Committee: China

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to recommendation W in the report on China by the Intelligence and Security Committee, published on 13 July 2023, HC 1605, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of requiring that the Intelligence and Security Committee be notified of any (a) company or person being a high-risk vendor of telecommunications equipment and (b) specification of the limits placed on the use of such equipment.

Jeremy Quin: HM Government is considering each of the recommendations and conclusions in the Intelligence & Security Committee’s report on China and will publish a full response to the report in due course, in the usual manner.

Ministry of Defence

Armed Forces: Loneliness

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to tackle loneliness and social isolation among armed forces (a) personnel and (b) veterans.

Dr Andrew Murrison: For the serving community there are extensive welfare systems that offer support for those in need, including those experiencing loneliness and isolation, provided by the Chain of Command, welfare, pastoral, and medical staff. The Ministry of Defence (MOD) also works closely with the Office for Veterans' Affairs (OVA), National Health Service, and the Service charity sector. In 2021, the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust awarded 60 grants of £70,000 to various projects across the UK, under the Tackling Loneliness Programme. In total £4.2 million was provided to projects in traditionally harder to reach groups with the aim of helping beneficiaries to engage in their community, access services and build stronger networks with peers, support organizations and service providers.For veterans, support is available via the MOD through Veterans UK, which provides free support for veterans and their families, including a helpline and the Veterans Welfare Service. It is important to recognise, however, that the welfare of veterans is a cross-Government responsibility, overseen by the OVA in the Cabinet Office, and statutory services for veterans are provided by the responsible Departments, Devolved Administrations, and Local Authorities as applicable, in common with the general population. The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport has primary responsibility for tackling loneliness and social isolation among the UK population.

Ministry of Defence: Correspondence

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of the potential implications for its policies of reports that US military emails have been misdirected to Mali .ML domain addresses; and whether his Department is aware of any e-mails originating from his Department being sent, forwarded or copied to .ML domain addresses in error.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The Ministry of Defence (MOD) is conducting an assessment of its email traffic with .ML domains. This involves understanding what emails were sent to .ML domains, and which of these might consist of any e-mails sent in error.While all sensitive information is shared on systems which would prevent such misdirection, policies are put in place on all email systems to minimise the risk of such mistakes. On OFFICIAL systems, data loss prevention tools will prompt users who seek to send OFFICIAL-SENSITIVE information outside of Government domains, drawing attention to, and allowing the correction of, errors such as mistyped domain names.Once the analysis of our email traffic is complete, we will consider what, if any, changes need to be made to MOD policies.

Armed Forces: Catering

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to Defence’s response to a more contested and volatile world, published on 18 July 2023, CP 901, when his Department commissioned a review into catering provision; and who led that review.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The 2 Star Military People Leadership Team in the Ministry of Defence commissioned the Delivering Defence Dining Quality (3DQ) Review, led by the Institute of Naval Medicine on behalf of all three Services, and which reported in December 2021. The Army took the findings from this, and then looked more broadly at the needs of their people through the ongoing Exploring Appetites of Today's Soldiers (EATS) study, and subsequent pilot, which together with the annual Armed Forces Continuous Attitude Survey, has led to a new Defence Catering Strategy (DCS) for all three Services.The implementation of the DCS is being driven by Director Armed Forces People Policy working with, amongst others, the single Services and the Defence Infrastructure Organisation who are responsible for the delivery of catering contracts. The DCS puts the needs of personnel at the heart of the provision, with healthier dining choices available, at a subsidised rate, and delivered in a fashion better aligned to modern-day living. Ahead of new contracts in 2026, we are working with industry providers to bring in as many aspects of the new food provision as possible from January 2024.

Armed Forces: Recruitment

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to Defence’s response to a more contested and volatile world, published on 18 July 2023, CP 901, what recruitment targets his Department has for the Armed Forces over the next two years.

Dr Andrew Murrison: Defence intends to increase recruitment into our Armed Forces over the next two years and transition to a transformational tri-Service recruitment model. Recruitment targets for Regular Serving personnel in 2023-24 currently are summarised below:Royal NavyOfficers 457Sailors 3,567ArmyOfficers 644Regulars 9,813Royal Air ForceOfficers 396Aviators 2,191

Ministry of Defence: Ministers

Wendy Chamberlain: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, on how many occasions a request for a meeting by an hon. Member was not agreed to by (a) a Minister and (b) their office on behalf of a Minister in the last 12 months.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Armed Forces: Housing

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to Defence’s response to a more contested and volatile world, published on 18 July 2023, CP 901, how much of the £400m allocated for service accommodation is (a) new funding and (b) funding previously announced.

James Cartlidge: The £400 million announced will be achieved through re-prioritisation within our overall budget and will support the ongoing delivery of new and refurbished military residential accommodation and housing for over 40,000 soldiers, sailors, aviators, and their families.

Challenger Tanks

Tom Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he plans to bring forward the date of the planned rollout of Challenger 3 battle tanks to the Army.

James Cartlidge: The intent remains to build 148 Challenger 3 Main Battle Tanks, as set out in the 2021 Defence Command Paper. The programme is on schedule to achieve Initial Operating Capability in 2027 and Full Operating Capability in 2030. More broadly, the number of Challenger 3 remains under review to ensure the Army's Main Battle Tank fleet is sufficient to meet Defence's needs.

Artillery: Decommissioning

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the out of service date is of the Archer artillery systems.

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when he expects to deliver the Mobile Fires Platform Programme.

James Cartlidge: The Mobile Fires Platform is still planned to achieve Initial Operating Capability in 2029, and Full Operating Capability in 2032. However, options are being scoped to accelerate the procurement process where possible. The Archer 6x6 artillery systems will remain in service as an interim capability until the Mobile Fires Platform enters service.

Ammunition

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when his Department expects to deliver an eight-fold increase in production capacity of 155mm artillery shells.

James Cartlidge: The Ministry of Defence has placed an order with BAE Systems to increase 155mm shells stockpile for the British Army. The announced eight-fold increase in production capability will be available from 2025.

Dstl: Employment

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many (a) civilian and (b) military staff have been employed by the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory in each year since 2010.

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate he has made of how many (a) civilian and (b) military staff will be employed by the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory in each year until 2030.

James Cartlidge: The average Full-Time Equivalent numbers of Civilian Employees each financial year at the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl), and forecast in Dstl’s Annual Budget Cycle 2023 submission, are as follows:  Financial Year(FY)Average FTEActualsFY2013-143,677FY2014-153,648FY2015-163,579FY2016-173,549FY2017-183,554FY2018-193,710FY2019-204,060FY2020-214,198FY2021-224,279FY2022-234,656Forecast (ABC23)FY2023-245,071FY2024-254,984FY2025-264,784FY2026-274,650FY2027-284,656FY2028-294,656FY2029-304,656FY3030-314,656FY3031-324,656FY3031-334,656 More detailed information is published in the MOD biannual civilian report online: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/mod-biannual-civilian-personnel-statisticsindex Dstl does not employ military staff, but is cross-charged for military support. Data is no longer held for the period before 2013-14.

Armed Forces: Innovation

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to Defence’s response to a more contested and volatile world, published on 18 July 2023, CP 901, how much more than £6.6bn his Department will be investing in R and D.

James Cartlidge: The Department was set a minimum spend for Research and Development (R&D) at Spending Review (SR) 20, totalling £6.6 billion over the four years from financial year (FY) 2021-22. To date, the Department has spent £3.9 billion on R&D (£1.8 billion in FY 2021-22 and £2.1 billion in FY 2022-23. Forecasts for R&D spend meeting the internationally-recognised definition for R&D for the remaining two years are subject to change. However, levels of investment are not expected to reduce from the amounts seen in the first half of this spending review period, meaning the Department will comfortably exceed this SR20 target.

Northern Ireland Office

Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery: Staff

Stephen Farry: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, with reference to the Answer of 10 July 2023 to Question 192126, which units within his Department the 19 staff members worked in before moving to the secretariat of the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery.

Mr Steve Baker: The ICRIR secretariat now has 24 staff members. Staff have been recruited from across the public sector. In terms of where the staff previously worked, the breakdown is as follows: OrganisationPercentOther Central Government Department42%Northern Ireland Office46%Wider public sector (including Arms-Length Bodies)12%Total100%

Ministry of Justice

Prisoners: Training

Ellie Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what commercial companies were involved in working with HM Prison Service to train prisoners for employment as of 18 July 2023.

Edward Argar: As of 18 July, 87 organisations were actively involved in working with HM Prison & Probation Service in training prisoners.The New Futures Network is the team in HM Prison & Probation Service responsible for working with businesses to secure jobs for prison leavers. Information about the commercial relationships it has developed is available at this link: New-End-of-year-sales-21-22.pdf (newfuturesnetwork.gov.uk).

Prisoners: Vocational Education

Ellie Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners gained vocational qualifications in each of the last 12 years.

Edward Argar: This information could only be provided at disproportionate cost.Since 2019, the Ministry of Justice has centrally recorded the number of educational courses completed by prisoners, however the information collected does not differentiate between vocational qualifications and other types.Statistics on the number of course completions are published on gov.uk, in table 2.3 here:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/prison-education-and-accredited-programme-statistics-2021-2022.

Prisoners: Vocational Education

Ellie Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what funding his Department has allocated for vocational education in prisons in financial year 2023-24.

Edward Argar: Funding is not allocated specifically to vocational education. Prison governors will spend their allocated education budget flexibly during the year to fund provision to meet particular local needs (including vocational education) via the Dynamic Purchasing System and Prison Education Framework.HMPPS continues to ensure prisoners improve skills such as literacy and numeracy, acquire relevant vocational qualifications, and access employment and training opportunities on release.

Rape: Criminal Proceedings

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many rape cases were awaiting trial in the Crown courts in (a) June 2020, (b) June 2021, (c) June 2022 and (d) June 2023.

Edward Argar: The volume of outstanding ‘for trial’ rape cases at the Crown Court in England and Wales, as at end of June 2020 – 2022 has been provided (as attached).‘For trial' cases relates to the case type at the point of receipt into the Crown Court - these are the cases that could go to trial, but they may not necessarily result in a trial (i.e. if a guilty plea is entered).The latest published data is available to March 2023 only.Table (xlsx, 15.5KB)

Prisons: Crimes of Violence

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 17 July 2023 to Question 193050 on Prisons: Crimes of Violence, what weighting is given to the rate of (a) prisoner-on-prisoner assaults and (b) assaults on staff relative to other KPIs when assigning annual prison performance ratings.

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 17 July 2023 to Question 193050 on Prisons: Crimes of Violence, if he will provide the 2021-22 Prisons Performance Framework target levels for each prison for the KPIs of (a) prisoner-on-prisoner assaults and (b) assaults on staff.

Edward Argar: For the performance year 2022/23, we will publish the Annual Prisons Performance Ratings on 27 July 2023. This publication will provide the weightings given to a wide range of KPIs used by the framework that enables us to monitor the performance of the prison system, including prisoner on prisoner assaults and assaults on staff. The weightings will be published in the publication guidance documentation.Performance targets were not set for individual prisons for 2021-22 because prisons were still recovering from the pandemic, however, HMPPS still monitored performance in order to drive continuous improvement.

Coroners: Standards

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many inquests in coroners’ courts have been opened and adjourned for longer than two years in (a) England, (b) London and (c) Barnet as of 17 July 2023.

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many inquests have remained open for more than two years in each of the last five years.

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what is the average length of time from an inquest being opened to it being concluded in each of the last five years.

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what is the average length of time from an inquest being opened to it being concluded in each region in England.

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department has a target for the length of time an inquest should take from its opening to its conclusion.

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many inquests have been recorded in each of the last five years.

Mike Freer: The Ministry of Justice publishes Coroner Statistics each May covering the preceding calendar year. The information is collated from data provided by each of the 81 coroner areas across England and Wales. Data from the published statistics is set out in the table below, across all coroner areas for each of the last five years, on the total number of inquests recorded, the average length of inquests, the total number of inquests open for more than two years, and the total number of inquests suspended and not resumed. The requested information for inquests adjourned for longer than two years in England, London and Barnet only is not collated as part of the annual statistics. Table CSV included in the annual publication provides further information for adjourned inquests by coroner area.The published statistics also record the average length of an inquest in individual coroner areas and Barnet is part of the North London Coroner area with Brent, Harrow, Haringey and Enfield. Table 13 collates this information by region. The Ministry of Justice does not have a target for the length of time an inquest should take. Coroners are independent judicial office holders and the way they manage their caseload is a matter for them. Following the Covid-19 pandemic the Chief Coroner issued guidance to coroners on how their services can best recover and tackle backlogs that accumulated in some areas. Regulation 26 of the Coroners (Investigations) Regulations 2013 require coroners to notify the Chief Coroner of any investigation which has not been completed or discontinued within a year of the death being reported to them, and provide reasons for this. They must also notify the Chief Coroner when such investigations are completed or discontinued.  20222021202020192018Number of inquests recorded 36,27332,76231,99129,96929,094Average length of inquest 30 weeks31 weeks27 weeks27 weeks26 weeksInquests open for more than 2 years at year end 1,7601,3661,104601472Inquests suspended due to criminal proceedings and not resumed 748729599849834

Bar Standards Board: Complaints

Apsana Begum: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of changes in the level of complaints made to the Bar Standards Board by criminal law barristers over the last three years.

Mike Freer: The Ministry of Justice has not carried out an assessment on any factors affecting the level of complaints made to the Bar Standards Board about barristers. The regulators of the legal profession in England and Wales, including the Bar Standards Board, are independent of Government. There are two routes for complaints about barristers in England and Wales - the Legal Ombudsman and the Bar Standard Board. The Legal Ombudsman deals with complaints about the service provided to the complainant by an authorised person, while the Bar Standards Board deals with complaints where a barrister is alleged to be in breach of the Bar Standards Board’s codes of conduct. The Bar Standards Board publishes data on its complaints in its Regulatory Decision-making Annual Report.

Ministry of Justice: Ministers

Wendy Chamberlain: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, on how many occasions a request for a meeting by an hon. Member was not agreed to by (a) a Minister and (b) their office on behalf of a Minister in the last 12 months.

Mike Freer: This information is not centrally collated and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. Ministers will regularly seek to engage with hon. Members, whilst balancing wider Ministerial and Parliamentary responsibilities.

Family Proceedings: Safety

Ellie Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 20 December 2022 to Question 109769 on Family Proceedings: Safety, what recent estimate he has made of when the final review into the presumption of parental involvement and its risk of harm exception will be published.

Mike Freer: This is an important and complex issue, and we want to ensure that any recommendations resulting from the review of the presumption of parental responsibility are based on a solid understanding of the ways this presumption is applied, and how this affects children.The evidence gathering stage of the review has been completed. The review, including all research reports, will be published later this year.

Family Proceedings: Safety

Ellie Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice,  when he expects the recommendations of Assessing risk of harm to children and parents in private law children cases report, published in June 2020, to be implemented.

Mike Freer: We have made good progress on many of the measures that the Government committed to taking forward following the publication of the Harm Panel report.In June 2023, my department published a delivery update that set out the action we have taken so far, as well as the action we intend to take.Work on important measures, such as the Integrated Domestic Abuse Court pilots and the Domestic Abuse Commissioner’s new monitoring mechanism, is ongoing. We will provide further updates on this work as appropriate.

Ministry of Justice: Buildings

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment his Department has made of the implications for his policies of the use of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete in the construction of buildings operated under its remit.

Mike Freer: The Ministry of Justice has undertaken an initial review of all the buildings across its estate, and now has a list which require further investigation. Surveys and assessments are being undertaken, which will identify which buildings have reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC). Mitigation and action plans from those assets containing RAAC will then be put in place.All courts have been certified as safe, following extensive surveys and tests in line with statutory building regulations. Out of over 350 buildings in the HMCTS estate, we have identified six which contain reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC). We are working with specialist suppliers at sites where RAAC is present to monitor each system and work towards removing the material from these sites.His Majesty’s Courts and Tribunal Service are working with specialist suppliers at sites where RAAC is present to monitor each system and work towards removing the material from these sites.

Coroners: Pathology

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the availability of pathologist’s available to assist in coroners’ services.

Mike Freer: The shortage of pathologists to undertake coronial post-mortem examinations is a long-standing and cross-cutting issue.I am concerned that progress should be made to address the shortage as soon as practicable and so am engaging with relevant Ministerial colleagues to identify and implement urgent action to address the complex underlying issues.

Coroners: Expenditure

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate his Department has made of the cost to the public purse of local authority spending on coroner services in each of the last five years.

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make an estimate of the proportion of the Pandemic Recovery Fund for local authorities that has been spent on coroners’ services.

Mike Freer: Whilst the Ministry of Justice is responsible for coroner law and policy, it does not have operational responsibility for coroner services which are a local service, funded and administered by individual local authorities. Local authorities’ independence from central Government means that they are responsible for managing their budgets in line with local priorities. This is appropriate as central Government cannot predict exactly what the cost of a local service will be.Local authority revenue and financing information for England is published annually on gov.uk. The following table sets out data on expenditure on coroners’ court services for each of the last five financial years: Total expenditure (employers’ costs and running costs) (£000)Expenditure net of fees and other service income (£000)2021-2022173,000123,6852020-2021166,376123,4532019-2020149,450108,9832018-2019131,80495,3412017-2018124,79692,360The Ministry of Justice is unable to estimate spending on coroner services from the Pandemic Recovery Fund.

Department for Transport

Aviation

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make it his policy to end flights by private jet; and if he will make a statement.

Jesse Norman: The Government is committed to tackling climate change – and doing so without imposing unnecessary burdens on individuals or businesses.Analysis in the Jet Zero Strategy shows that the sector can achieve net zero aviation by 2050 without the need for direct interventions to limit aviation growth, which has significant economic and social benefits, by focusing on new fuels and technologies.

Smart Devices: China

Stewart Malcolm McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department is taking steps to monitor the potential threat posed by Chinese-made cellular internet of things modules to (a) aviation, (b) cars, (c) roads, (d) the rail network and (e) other parts of the UK transport system.

Jesse Norman: The Department takes transport security very seriously and regularly monitors for any potential security threats. Whilst the UK’s transport sector employs a limited amount of cellular internet of things module technology, reliance is low. The Department encourages the transport sector to follow Government Security Group, National Cyber Security Centre and National Protective Security Authority supply chain guidance when selecting a technology supplier.

Smart Devices: China

Stewart Malcolm McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if his Department will make an assessment of the (a) prevalence of the use and (b) reliance on the supply of Chinese-made cellular internet of things modules in (a) aviation, (b) cars, (c) roads, (d) the rail network and (e) other parts of the UK transport system.

Jesse Norman: The UK’s transport sector employs a limited amount of cellular internet of things module technology. Reliance on this technology across the various transport modes is low. The Department encourages the transport sector to follow Government Security Group, National Cyber Security Centre and National Protective Security Authority supply chain guidance when selecting a technology supplier.

Department for Energy Security and Net Zero

Smart Devices: China

Stewart Malcolm McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether her Department is taking steps to monitor the potential threat posed by Chinese-made cellular internet of things modules to energy infrastructure.

Stewart Malcolm McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if his Department will make an assessment of the (a) prevalence of the use and (b) reliance on the supply of Chinese-made cellular internet of things modules in energy infrastructure.

Andrew Bowie: The UK takes its national security extremely seriously, including the security of its critical infrastructure. The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero works with other government departments and agencies, as well as with industry partners, to ensure threats to energy infrastructure are understood and appropriate mitigations are established including for the supply chain and in line with NPSA and NCSC guidance. The Department is working with the National Cyber Security Centre to monitor risks to the energy sector from increasing digitalisation in the UK’s energy system, including security issues associated with internet-facing components.

Energy: Prices

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether he plans to provide financial support for energy bills to (a) vulnerable and (b) fuel poor households in winter 2023-24.

Amanda Solloway: Targeted support for low-income and vulnerable consumers must be delivered in a way that aligns fully with our approach to fuel poverty, whilst being responsive to short-term changes in the energy market when necessary. DESNZ are undertaking a review of their fuel poverty strategy and will use this to develop a clear and coordinated approach to affordability, fuel poverty, and wider retail market reforms. The Government will examine approaches for how comprehensive long-term protection can be better provided to low-income, vulnerable and fuel poor households.

Energy Bills Discount Scheme

Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what estimate his Department has made of average amount of financial payment applied to consumers under the energy bill discount scheme.

Amanda Solloway: The Energy Bills Discount Scheme (EBDS) discount is applied directly to the energy bills of eligible consumers by their energy providers. The Department does not hold information on the average payment made per consumer. The Government has provided just under £26 million of support under the EBDS so far and will continue providing support until March 2024. Further data on payments made under the scheme was published on 18th July 2023 and is available here:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/energy-bills-discount-scheme-payments-made-under-the-scheme.

Alternative Fuel Payments

Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what the average financial award was to residential non-commercial consumers under the Non-Domestic Alternative Fuel Payment scheme.

Amanda Solloway: The Non-Domestic Alternative Fuel Payment (NDAFP) scheme targeted non-domestic consumers including businesses and voluntary organisations. In some cases, residential consumers were able to benefit from the scheme, where their energy supply was provided through an intermediary who has a non-domestic energy contract (such as a landlord). In these cases, the intermediary was required to pass through support to end users. The Department does not hold information on the average financial award to residential consumers in this instance. In total the Government provided just under £67 million of support under the NDAFP scheme. Further data on payments under the scheme were published on 18th July 2023 and can be found here:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/non-domestic-alternative-fuel-payment-ndafp-payments-made-under-the-scheme.

Alternative Fuel Payments

Sir Peter Bottomley: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how many and what proportion of eligible (a) park home and (b) all households have received Energy Bills Support Scheme Alternative Funding payments; how much and what proportion of the money allocated to the scheme has been paid out; and if he will make a statement on how eligible households can now receive this money.

Amanda Solloway: The Government published the latest figures for the Energy Bills Support Scheme Alternative Funding (EBSS AF) on GOV.UK on 13 July, with figures correct as of 29 June - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/energy-bills-support-scheme-alternative-fund-gb-ni-and-alternative-fuel-payment-alternative-fund-applications-made-by-customers. Officials estimated that there were around 900,000 households eligible for the scheme, including an estimated 85,000 – 125,000 park homes. The department was allocated £362m from HM Treasury to deliver the scheme, with over £60m being paid out to eligible households. The EBSS AF closed on 31 May. No new applications can now be made. The Government recommends that any household that did not apply for support or were ineligible and require help with their energy bills visits the ‘Help for Households’ webpage on GOV.UK to view what other support may be available - https://helpforhouseholds.campaign.gov.uk/.

Alternative Fuel Payments

Sir Peter Bottomley: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps he is taking in response to comments made by the Chair of the Energy Security and Net Zero Committee on 15 July 2023 on the effectiveness of the Energy Bill Support Scheme Alternative Funding.

Amanda Solloway: The Government understands the concerns expressed regarding the take-up of the Energy Bills Support Scheme Alternative Funding. However, the scheme is now closed to new applications. The scheme was open for applications from end February to end May. During that time, the Government used a variety of communication methods to ensure as many eligible households as possible could apply for their support. This included press notices, roundtables with key stakeholders, and a request for local authorities to write to care homes and park home sites in their area.

Alternative Fuel Payments

Sir Peter Bottomley: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how much and what proportion of the funding allocated to the Energy Bills Support Scheme Alternative Funding scheme was not paid to eligible vulnerable households; and how much and what proportion of that funding will be (a) retained by his Department and put to alternative uses and (b) returned to the Treasury.

Amanda Solloway: The department was allocated £362m to deliver the Energy Bills Support Scheme Alternative Funding in Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Over £60m has been paid to eligible households who have made a successful application, and any remaining budget will be returned to HM Treasury.

Energy: Meters

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will make it his policy to provide energy bills support to households on prepayment meters by directly crediting users’ energy accounts; and if he will make a statement.

Amanda Solloway: A prepayment meter account can be directly credited with support payments where the household has a smart meter, and that has been the method by which Government has provided energy bill support to such households. Traditional prepayment meters operate with a key card that is needed to add credit to the meter, so a manual intervention will always be always required in order to apply support payments to such households.

Energy: Meters

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of requiring energy suppliers to provide all households with a minimum amount of energy regardless of payment status to help ensure that people on prepayment meters are not disconnected if they run out of money.

Amanda Solloway: Prepayment meters (PPMs) play an important role in the energy market by helping some households manage their budgets, avoid debt and court action. Ofgem have rules in place to protect customers at risk of self-disconnection and self-rationing. Ofgem requires energy suppliers to proactively identify self-disconnecting and vulnerable customers and offer them emergency and friendly-hours credit and additional support. Ofgem’s Ability to Pay principles also require consistent support for customers struggling to pay their bills. Furthermore, Ofgem has recently launched a further consultation on additional strengthened protections for PPM customers.